


A Newfound Family

by pugwitharug



Series: dragon e-boy being soft [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Late Night Writing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, idk that'll probably come later, jayce gets hurt a little but he's fine, mentions of blood as well, much better than lofi won't lie, my procrastination project, possible gay vibes????, possible slow burn coming up that chances are i'm not gonna stop, raihan becoming a mother, the only thing keeping me going while writing is lofi music, those vibes that Nintendo music gives you
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23977042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pugwitharug/pseuds/pugwitharug
Summary: What happens when you mix a visit to the daycare center gone wrong, Eggs that need raising, and the famous Tamer of Dragons? Chaos, most likely.
Series: dragon e-boy being soft [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1734907
Comments: 10
Kudos: 19
Collections: dragon e-boy just being a happy boi





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Trainer_Amy for the fic idea!

Being a powerful Gym Leader such as Raihan was, there was a certain level of expectations surrounding who you were. A lot of those expectations were those that you gave to the media. In Raihan’s case, some expectations were that he had to have powerful Pokemon with him at all times, which he upheld pretty well. He was always ready to take out his Flygon or Duraludon at a moment’s notice and join any sort of battle. Another was that he must train all the time to keep his Pokemon in tip-top shape, which he kept to pretty regularly. It was important to make sure that none of his Pokemon slacked off too much, or else he would lose part of his reputation.

But this time, he decided to give them a bit of a break. Most of them, at least. This season’s Gym Challengers were...particularly slow in going through the Gym Challenge. A lot of them joined, got through Milo and Nessa, got to Kabu and had some troubles, then something happened that made a lot of them drop out. While Raihan wasn’t entirely sure what it was for every single person, a small part of him was glad that the season was slow. It meant more time to himself without worrying about the Challengers.

He strolled through Bridge Field, the sun shining high above and casting a short shadow behind him. His huge hoodie was zipped down lower than normal, showing off his Hammerlocke Gym Uniform, which was a simple navy blue collared shirt with orange stripes and an orange tie. Pretty standard and not very flashy, like some of the other Uniforms were, but it looked good on him either way.

He looked around for any sign of humans before turning a corner into the dead-end, where the daycare center laid nestled in the end. It was a good place to have a daycare, since the tall canyon walls kept anything from coming in from the yards.

As he neared the building, the normal sounds of Pokemon out in the yards started to fill his ears. He smiled at the sweet sounds coming from a place he loved. But that smile quickly faded when he realized that those sounds were not the normal ones of Pokemon playing, and that there was one recognizable voice calling out for help.

He ran over to the white picket fence and hopped over it with ease into the daycare side. He grabbed the only Pokeball he brought with him today and gripped it tightly as he ran over to see what was going on.

A group of Pokemon crowded around a huge hole in the fence dividing the daycare and the nursery, where a Hatterene stood in the middle of it, its extended fist raised high above it. Raihan saw a group of baby Pokemon huddled in a far corner, shaking and whimpering in fear. Jayce laid on the ground in front of the Hatterene, holding an arm up to shield himself. Gash marks lined his upper arm, blood dripping out of the wounds and onto the grass and his overalls. He tried to crawl away from the Hatterene with one arm, but that only led to more swings from its fist.

“Jayce!” Raihan yelled as he jumped over the fence again and threw out his Pokeball in front of him. Duraludon popped out and stomped its feet, grounding itself. Hatterene screeched at the new opponent, and Duraludon let out a roar in return.

“No,” Jayce grunted from behind Raihan. “Don’t fight! They’re too evenly matched!” He pointed to the door leading back into the building. “There’s a, a Love Ball on the other side. Get it.”

Raihan nodded. “Guard him!” he yelled to Duraludon as he ran inside.

Behind the counter inside the building were drawers that held each Pokemon’s Pokeball, so that they could let the Pokemon wander freely in the yard without having to worry about their Pokeballs. Raihan yanked open drawer after drawer, his eyes scanning for the familiar pink hearts.

When he finally found it, he grabbed it and ran back outside to see Duraludon deflecting one of the Hatterene’s slashing attacks.

He held out the Love Ball to Hatterene. “Hatterene! Return!”

A light pink light surrounded by hearts came out and enveloped the Hatterene before drawing it back into the Love Ball. Raihan sighed in fleeting relief before kneeling down and helping Jayce to his feet.

“Stay out here, make sure nothing else happens,” he said to Duraludon as he half-dragged, half-walked Jayce back inside.

He sat Jayce down on one of the sofas and looked behind the counter for a first-aid kit, opening drawers and cabinets and searching under stacks of papers. “Where is it?” he growled to himself as the kit continued to ghost him.

“Left cabinet at the top,” Jayce said, holding his still bleeding arm over the floor.

Raihan opened the cabinet and grabbed it before walking back over to Jayce. He kneeled down next to him and opened up the kit on the couch. “What happened here?” he asked as he grabbed a wipe and started wiping the blood off his arm.

“I don’t know. One minute things were going fine, the next that Hatterene busts through the fence and starts swinging.” He hissed in pain as Raihan applied a disinfectant onto his wounds. “Ow ow ow ow ow.”

“Sorry,” Raihan said as he sprayed more disinfectant on. “And you were trying to keep the babies safe?”

He nods, his leg starting to bounce up and down quickly. “Yeah. It was almost to Level 50, and they were all Level 1 or even 2. They wouldn't have stood a chance.”

Raihan grabbed some big fluffy bandage and a roll of gauze. He pressed one bandage against the first wound and began to wrap the gauze over it. “Didn't you have a Pokemon to help you?”

Jayce shook his head. “My sisters in the other daycare have the Stoutland. It’s their turn to have him.” He chuckled lightly. “I stole some of their days cuz the babies liked him so much.”

Raihan gave him a small smile. “You little sneakster.” He puts another bandage on. “God, I can’t believe it did this to you.”

“It’s in Hatterene’s nature to attack when provoked. I tried to push it back onto the other side, so I guess I provoked it.”

Raihan tore off the gauze and clipped it onto his arm. “You have no one else here with you, right?”

Jayce nodded. “Yeah, it’s just me here.”

“Let me help you around here a bit.”

He raised his eyebrows. “What? No, you’re a Gym Leader, you have Gym Leader duties. I can take care of this place, I’ve done it for years.”

“But have you done it injured like this?”

He looked down at his arm, a small pool of red starting to form on each of the bandages. “Well, no…”

Raihan closed the first-aid kit and stood up. “Then let me help you here. It’s a slow season anyways, not many Challengers are past the minor league. It’ll only be for a few days until your arm heals.”

Jayce poked at the bandages. “I…” He sighed. “Okay. Since you’re being so insistent.”

Raihan put the kit back in the cabinet. “Besides, the Pokemon here love me.”

“You mean the babies love you,” Jayce chuckled. “I bet you’re only doing this so that you can spend more time with them.”

Raihan spun around on his heels and laced his fingers behind his neck. “You got me,” he grinned. “But seriously, I’m gonna at least fix the fence for you.”

“Thank you. Really.” He stood up and went behind the counter to peek outside again. Duraludon was standing in the middle of the hole in the fence, it's almost-hidden eyes watching over the two yards. The babies still huddled in a corner, while the daycare Pokemon all minded their own business, keeping themselves wary of Duraludon.

He frowned. “Can you call back your Pokemon? It’s still scaring the babies.”

“Oh, yeah.” Raihan went outside and called Duraludon back into its Pokeball. He turned to the babies, who refused to come out of their corner.

He took a few quiet and slow steps towards them. “Hey hey hey, it’s alright,” he cooed, holding his arms out to them. “It’s alright, the mean Hatterene’s gone now. I’m here.” He sat down in front of them, making himself as inviting as possible.

It seemed to work, since a baby Nickit from the group came up to him and sniffed his arms for a while before crawling into his lap and curling up. Raihan smiled softly down at it and ran a hand over its glossy fur. “Why do you have to be so adorable?”

Slowly, the rest of the group started to come to him, nibbling on his hoodie, crawling on top of him, walking around him to get a good look at every angle. Raihan didn't mind any of this though. This is what he loved about baby Pokemon: their curiosity, and the fact that they can warm up to just about anybody.

“Seriously, you should come work here,” Jayce said from the doorway. “Not even full-time, just having a part-time partner here would be pretty helpful.”

“Yeah, but being a Gym Leader is hard enough as it is. I’m really lucky to have this sort of break.” He booped an Eevee’s nose, making it blink and bat at his finger with its paw.

“True.” Jayce looked over to the broken fence. “I’m gonna go and buy some materials for the fence.”

“Wait, no, I can do it,” Raihan said, placing the Pokemon in his lap on the ground before standing up again. A few cries of protest came from the group of babies, making Raihan’s heart wrench.

Jayce chuckled and shook his head. “It’s fine, really. I can just call a Flying Taxi.” He gestured to the baby Pokemon crowding around Raihan’s feet. “Besides, they would throw a fit if you left.”

Raihan looked down at the Yamper, who was giving him its best puppy eyes while leaning up against his leg. It was working. Raihan found it hard to tear his gaze away.

“Fine,” he groaned, plopping back down onto the ground, where the babies cheered in victory as their playground came back. “God, I might just steal some of these guys.”

Jayce rubbed the back of his neck. “Y’know, we do have some Eggs that were abandoned…”

He looked up at Jayce, his eyes narrowing in concern. “What do you mean, abandoned?”

“Some Trainers come here and they drop off some Pokemon to the Daycare. Sometimes, the Pokemon hit it off and they make an Egg. But when the Trainers come to pick the Pokemon up, sometimes they go without taking the Egg, and so it’s just abandoned.”

Raihan’s face visibly fell. How could somebody just...abandon an unborn baby Pokemon? It was rightfully theirs, they have the responsibility to care for it until it’s hatched. “How many do you have?”

“So far? Five. I have all the data on them, if you want to see it.”

He nodded and picked up the Pokemon in his lap, which was only an Axew, before standing up again. “Take me to them.”

He followed Jayce back into the building and down a flight of stairs into a basement. Jayce flicked on the lights to show Egg incubators lined up against a far wall. Out of the seven that were there, five of them were occupied with an Egg and running.

“If Eggs are kept undormant for too long, the Pokemon inside could die. These incubators are run on the lowest setting possible, so that they can keep the Egg alive without adding onto its hatch time too quickly. Eggs need a certain amount of stimulus to hatch. Most people get that by walking around with the Egg in the party--oh wait, you know this, you hatched some Eggs that one time.”

Raihan’s face grew warm as he looked away. “Why are you bringing that up?”

“Because frankly, I’m still shocked that you just ran off with not one, not two, but TEN whole Eggs with you like it was nothing. And they hatched! I had to make up an explanation to the Trainers who came back to--”

The sound of a Pokemon cry from behind them interrupted Jayce’s rant. They both turned around to see the babies from the yard hopping down the stairs, the Yamper from earlier tripping up and falling down the stairs.

“Wha--careful!” Jayce said as he dove to catch the Yamper before it hit the ground. It started to cry in his arms. “You can’t be down here, c’mere.” He grabbed as many as he could, cringing as it put pressure on his injured arm, and herded the rest back upstairs.

Raihan looked at the pieces of paper taped onto the incubators. They all had important pieces of information on them, like who the Egg’s parents were, which Trainer it was supposed to belong to, what day it was abandoned, what the Pokemon inside could be. A Ralts. A Purrloin or a Nickit. An Eevee. A Riolu or a Zigzagoon. A Wooloo or a Sneasel. Stuck inside these incubators, inside these shells, were Pokemon that were never going to see the light of day, or feel the love of a Trainer, or run through the grass with child-like carelessness. They were stuck in time, not even knowing the concept of it.

He walked back up the stairs into the yard, where Jayce was herding a stray Linoone back into the daycare yard. “I’ll take them.”

Jayce looked up at him. “Sorry, what now?”

“The Eggs. I’ll raise them.”

He drew in a sharp breath. “You do know what you’re signing on for, right?”

“Hey, it’s not my first rodeo training up Pokemon. And I’ll be around here more often anyways, so I’ll have you to help me.”

“Raising Pokemon from Eggs is not the same as training up former wild Pokemon specifically for fighting. Newborns have different needs than those with higher Levels.”

Raihan nods. “I know, and I can take it on. I’m the all-powerful Tamer of Dragons, after all!”

Jayce sighed and shook his head. He didn't think that Raihan still entirely understood what raising baby Pokemon meant, but he didn't look like he was about to change his mind any time soon.

“What can go wrong?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jayce goes out to buy fence supplies. He meets Raihan along the way. That's basically it.

So far, nothing was going wrong. Jayce was pleasantly surprised when he saw that Raihan had added the eggs to his party and was taking care of them correctly. He made sure that the eggs were never too cold, encouraged stimulation in the Pokemon inside them, and his Duraludon was gentler than he expected with them. Maybe this wouldn't go as badly as he thought it would.

Jayce checked inside his wallet outside of the home improvement store in Motostoke. 10,000 Pokemon dollars. That should be enough to get some wood, nails, and paint. He put his wallet back in his overall pocket and walked in.

There didn't seem to be that many people in the store, minus the clerks at the doors who greeted him kindly. He made his way over to the hardware section of the store and looked through the items on the shelves. He grabbed a large package of nails and tossed it between his hands. That cost 600 Pokemon dollars, so he had 9,400 left to play around with.

Next was the paint. He strolled over to the rows upon rows of colored cards, a slow rainbow gradient cascading down the small shelves. He went over to the opposite side with the white and looked at each card carefully. Eventually, he settled on the color “Togepi’s Kiss” and went to the man at the paint counter to get a can. 4,800 spent on just one can of paint. He quickly did the math and came to 4,600 left for him.

“Since when did paint cost almost 5,000?” he muttered to himself as he put the nails on top of the paint can and walked over to the wood section. Huge beams of all kinds of wood towered over him, held back from falling over by metal bars near the top. He only needed a few pieces of picket fencing. After a few minutes of searching for the kind with the right height, width, and top, he looked at the price.

7,000 per piece.

“No, no no no,” he groaned as he looked around at the rest of the wood. Nothing he found fit the right parameters, and he didn't have any of the materials to make his own. He put the paint down and searched through his sweater pockets, his overall pockets, in his wallet again for any sort of loose change he missed. Nothing.

This wasn’t how he thought this trip would turn out. Motostoke is normally cheaper than Hammerlocke, but even so, what he had on him wasn’t enough. Stupid big city prices. He could always come back once he had more money. But he needed to get that fence fixed soon. All he had covering the huge hole was some mesh he managed to find in the attic, and he wasn’t sure how long it would hold, if it would tear again and if the babies would end up wandering into the daycare yard or if another Pokemon decided to explore the nursery yard, or--

“What’re you panicking about?” a voice next to him asked.

Jayce looked over to see a man with black hair hanging to his chin, glasses framing his blue eyes, a denim jacket with faux fur lining poking out from the collar, and skinny black jeans towering over him. It took Jayce a second to recognize who this man was.

“Raihan?”

“The one and only,” he smirked.

“You...don’t look the same at all.”

“That’s the point of a civilian disguise, isn’t it?” He walked over to the fence pieces Jayce was looking at and ran a hand over them. “But what were you thinking about just then? Looked like you were having a crisis.”

“I...I was kind of having a crisis,” he admitted as he tugged on his sweater sleeves.

“Was it about the fence?”

He nodded.

“What do you need?”

“I just, the fencing is more expensive than I had thought it was. But it’s no big deal, I can always come back later.”

He didn't even get to say his second sentence before Raihan started grabbing some fence pieces. “How many do you need?”

Jayce grabbed the pieces from Raihan’s arms. “No, it’s fine. I can get some more money later, you don’t have to.”

“What did you put in the hole?”

“Some mesh.”

Raihan shook his head. “That’s not gonna hold for very long, especially in a place with crazy weather all the time. You need the wood now. I’ll buy it.”

“The forecast said that it’s supposed to be sunny for the next few days. I can ask my sisters for some more money, then come back here the next day. You don’t have to bother with this.”

“I don’t have to, but I want to.” He grabbed the pieces back. “I’ll buy it.”

“Fine,” Jayce huffed as he picked up the paint can and nails. “But I’m buying these.”

“It’s a deal. Come on, let’s go back.”

The two of them went back up to the counters to pay for their supplies. Once they got outside, Jayce pulled a Pokeball from his pocket and let out a beefy Stoutland with a large backpack strapped onto it, six large pouches on the bottoms.

Raihan raised his eyebrows. “That’s what a Stoutland looks like? I’ve never seen one before.”

Jayce slid the nails into one of the pouches before zipping open the backpack and grabbing a length of rope. “You don’t get them here in Galar. My parents are both from Unova, and there’s plenty of them there.”

Raihan stepped around in front of the Stoutland and leaned down in front of its face. It sniffed his glasses, the long whiskers on its face twitching as his glasses fogged up. Raihan reached out to pet its head, and almost his whole hand sank into its thick fur. He smiled a bit as he scratched the top of its head.

“Hand me the wood,” Jayce said, and Raihan obeyed. Jayce placed the wood on Stoutland’s back and tied it tightly with the rope. “I convinced my sisters to let me borrow Stoutland to bring this wood back.” He looked up at Raihan. “Thanks, again. For the wood.”

Raihan leaned back up straight and put his hands behind his head. “No skin off my back. I’m happy to do it.”

Jayce smiled a bit. “Are you always this nice to other people?”

“When I can, I try to be. I have to please the people, after all. Wouldn't really be good for my reputation if I was a jerk to everyone.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” He petted Stoutland’s head, who let out a little boof in response. “Well, I’m gonna head back and start working on it,” he said as he picked up the paint can again.

“I’ll meet you there,” Raihan said. “I’m gonna swing by my place first, grab some things.” He grabbed a Pokeball and released his Flygon, looking around the clockworks of the city with interest. Raihan tapped its body, and it crouched down to let him onto its back. “I’ll see you soon!” he called before he and Flygon flew into the air, leaving the people around Jayce to gape in awe. Jayce noticed a few people starting to look over to him and Stoutland, wondering what Raihan was doing talking to him. Unnerved by their stares, Jayce led Stoutland towards the Motostoke entrance of the Wild Area. He didn't want to be subjected to other people’s questioning gazes and digging questions. He wasn’t used to that, and probably would never become used to it. A part of him questioned how Raihan did it, or if he ever even got used to it.

~~~~~

Jayce hammered another nail into the fencing when the door to the yard opened. Raihan appeared again, but Jayce didn't see his face at first. Bundled in his dragon hoodie were the five Eggs, and he set them down near the door. His glasses were gone, and his hair was tied back up behind the orange headband. His denim jacket disappeared, the blue t-shirt he was wearing underneath exposing his long arms.

“Alright, where’s the hammer?” Raihan asked as he made his way over to Jayce.

Jayce handed him his own hammer. “I only have the one here. I can work on painting once this is done.”

Raihan looked over how the other pieces were done. “Yeah, okay. Only fair to divide the workload.” He grabbed another nail and hammered it into place.

Jayce stood up and went over to the pile of Eggs, crouching down and examining them. “How is your Egg-watching going?”

“It’s been going.” Some more hammering. “They aren’t doing much right now, but I’ve been taking them on walks in the Wild Area and keeping them warm and stuff.”

Jayce smiled. “And it’s paying off. Your Eggs look healthy!” He looked back at Raihan. “I have to say, I was honestly worried about whether or not you would be able to take care of them properly, but I’m impressed. You’ve proven me wrong.”

Raihan suddenly hammered his own thumb and yelped in pain, nursing it with his other hand.

Spoke too soon.

“Ow, thanks,” Raihan said as he shook out his hand. He looked around at the empty nursery yard. “Where’s the babies?”

“Inside for nap time.” He walked over and grabbed the hammer again. “Maybe I should finish the hammering. You can help with the painting, I have more than one brush.”

“Alright, fine,” Raihan pouted as he basically traded places with Jayce and sat down next to the Eggs, putting two of them in his lap. “Hey, do you mind if I camp out here tonight?”

Jayce looked over at him. “Why?”

Raihan shrugged. “I feel like the Eggs are close to being hatched, and…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll be honest, I've only really been there when the Eggs hatched, but not really after that. I don’t know what to do, and I would like your help. This is literally your job, taking care of Eggs and newborn Pokemon.”

Something made his heart start to beat faster. But what was it? Embarrassment? No, that didn't feel quite right. But nothing else he could think of fit. Was he really that ashamed to admit that he didn't know what to do when an Egg hatched?

Then again, he kept the fact that he came here and that he knew Jayce a secret from the media, so who knew anymore?

“Yeah,” Jayce said. “Yeah, you can totally camp here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He looked back at him and smiled. “It would be nice to have someone else here.”

Raihan couldn’t help but smile back. And on his lap, the two Eggs jiggled slightly, preparing to come out into the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ........
> 
> When I first wrote Jayce and Raihan in Who Knew Dragons Could Be Soft?, I had a different relationship in mind for the two of them.
> 
> I'm gonna warn you right now it might go in the other direction in the next few chapters. But who knows?
> 
> Also this is shorter than I thought it was gonna be but I'm not really complaining that much.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raihan camps out by the daycare for the night.

The night sky above them sparkled with stars, the tiniest tears in the black-blue fabric that was the dark. Dark clouds, silver linings illuminated by the full moon above them, floated over the sky lazily, thin and long. The nights here in Galar were always beautiful, no matter where you were in the region.

Raihan looked up at the stars from his laying place next to the fire. He had set up his camping gear not too long ago near the daycare center, lighting a fire to make some food. The smell of curry attracted the other Pokemon, and he ended up having to make more than he thought he would. Luckily, Jayce had plenty of berries and ingredients to help him feed all the Pokemon.

“How do you deal with feeding all those Pokemon every day?” he asked Jayce, who was rubbing one of his Eggs gently in his lap.

“You get used to it with the job,” he chuckled. “You have to feed your Pokemon too, right?”

“Well, yeah, but not like 30 at a time! That’s a crazy amount.”

“It is a crazy amount.” He looked up at the night lights of Motostoke, not too far away from where they were, illuminating the towering buildings of the skyline. “I remember when I first started this place up and I started getting some real business. I would always hate meal time.” He smiled. “I didn't have any help with me at all, and I was always overwhelmed by the amount of Pokemon that could be there at one time. After a few years though, I learned my own little tricks of how to deal with it.”

Raihan propped himself up on his elbows, the Egg that was resting on his chest slowly rolling into his lap. “You should be called the Tamer of Pokemon.”

Jayce laughed and raised up an eyebrow. “Really? I’m hardly a Tamer like you though.”

Raihan shrugged. “I don’t really think so. You’re good with practically every Pokemon type, while I’m only good with a few.”

“Tamer of Dragons is not the most fitting term for you. Your team isn’t all Dragons. It’s whichever ones have moves to control the weather. So really you should be called the Tamer of Weather.”

Raihan ran his fingers through his hair. “Tamer of Weather. Not as cool as Tamer of Dragons, though. Makes me seem like I’m a knight or something.”

“One of those Galar knights of old?”

“Yeah. And dragons guard vaults, and I’m the guardian of the vault in Hammerlocke, so it works out even better!”

Jayce nodded. “Dragon-types are...well, it certainly takes a special type of person to be able to handle them. I’m surprised I can handle something like a Goodra sometimes.”

Raihan shook his head, sitting up properly. “You shouldn’t be surprised though. You’ve gone through handling a daycare alone for how long?”

Jayce stoked the fire with a fire poker. “Almost eight years.”

“Eight years! That’s a long time for someone to be wrangling with more than six Pokemon by themselves all day. C’mon, give yourself some credit!” He flashed his signature snaggletooth grin at him. “You’ve done some good stuff.”

Through the flames licking the air above and filling it with thin smoke, he could see Jayce smile back before he stood up, the two Eggs in hand. He walked over to Raihan’s Flygon, who slept soundly with the other two Eggs curled up around its tail. Crouching down, he set one Egg to feel the others.

Raihan leaned his head back to the sky, closing his eyes, milking in the calmness this part of the Wild Area brought. Here, in this dead-end, he could relax. He could take the time to breath in the scent of dew-covered grass fresh in the morning, hear the leaves rustle from the trees as a breeze passed by or Pokemon scuttled about. Time could slow down and he could just...be, without having all the busyness of city life and being a Gym Leader and his social media presence stress him out.

“It’s beautiful out here,” Jayce said as he sat down next to Raihan, breaking the silence. “It’s one of the reasons I chose to put a daycare up here instead of on a Route like my sisters. It’s calming out here.”

Raihan nodded. “Sure is. If I wasn’t a Gym Leader, I’d probably be out in nature. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do and being in the city and all, but you just get...tired of it sometimes, y’know?”

Jayce nodded. “It’s good to be where you love to be though, and doing what you love. Having those things makes life happier and easier.”

“Don’t I know it?” he laughed.

The two of them laughed for a bit before it became silent again. Jayce ran his hand over one of the Eggs thoughtfully. “This is gonna be one of those stereotypical questions you ask someone at a time like this, but, do you ever think about how life would be if you hadn’t gone down the path you had?”

Raihan raised an eyebrow. “Damn, deep much?”

Jayce sighed. “I don’t know, the question just came up.”

Raihan scratched his chin in thought. “Well, if I wasn’t a Gym Leader...I would probably still be a Trainer, I know that. It’s like my calling. Probably frequent the Battle Tower in search of some good battles,” he chuckled. “You?”

He fiddled with a button on his overalls. “Me? Gosh, I would, I would be a Trainer as well.”

Raihan blinked in surprise. “Wait, really?”

Jayce nodded. “When I was young and just moved to Galar, I started on a journey with Stoutland, who was a Lillipup at the time, and I wanted to defeat all the Gym Leaders and challenge the Champion. Y’know, like everybody’s dream was once. So I went, and I was doing good ‘cause I had some help from my View to battle, and I even got to the semi-finals.”

“Damn, seriously?” Raihan interrupted. “That’s great!”

Jayce nodded. “Yeah, it was, and everyone was proud of me. I thought for sure I was gonna win.” He sighed and shook his head. “I got utterly defeated in the first round. The other guy was too powerful for me.” He looked up at the stars twinkling softly above them as a Corviknight cry rang out from the skies. “I came home and I felt like a failure. Everybody had been rooting for me, and I had let them down the first battle. Even with my View. So after a bit of wallowing, I decided to take care of Pokemon instead, like my sisters. That way I could still feel like I accomplished something.”

Raihan’s body casted a shadow over Jayce, but he could barely make out a glimmer of something in Jayce’s eyes. Was it...what was it? Was it regret? Nostalgia?

He poked Jayce’s side, which made him look back down again. “Sorry, didn't mean to spill all that out there.”

“No, if it helped you, then I’m willing to listen.”

A corner of Jayce’s lips twitched up a little. “Really?”

He nodded. “Yep. And can I just say, I’m glad you lost that challenge.” He nudged his side with his elbow. “If you hadn’t, I probably wouldn't have met you.”

Jayce opened his mouth to say something, but a small crack broke him off. He looked around. “Did you hear that?”

Raihan looked behind him. “Yeah, it came from…”

Another crack, louder this time. Flygon’s eyes opened up as one of the Eggs it was holding began shaking. It let out a surprised squeak and jumped away, its wings fluttering in surprise.

“It’s happening!” Raihan grinned as he ran and crouched in front of the Egg, watching as the shell cracked and rocked back and forth. Jayce joined next to him, Flygon sniffing at the Egg from behind.

Raihan’s breath got stuck in his throat as he watched the shell crack again. He’s watched Eggs hatch before, but this time, it felt different. He was witnessing the birth of his own Pokemon, one that he would love and cherish and care for. This time, it meant more than just a normal Egg hatching.

The shell finally fell away to reveal a newborn Riolu, a chunk of shell laying on its head. Its red eyes slowly blinked open and took in its surroundings, a little squeak of curiosity coming out.

Raihan covered his mouth with one hand. “Oh my god,” he squeaked, a huge grin forming behind his hand.

Jayce chuckled and nudged his shoulder as Riolu tried standing up, Flygon leaning its head down to sniff at it. Riolu used Flygon’s head to help it stand up. “Congrats. You’re now a parent.”

Riolu turned over to Raihan and reached out to him. Raihan grabbed it with his other hand, and Riolu stumbled over to him, using his arm like a railing.

Raihan gathered it up in his arms and hugged it closely, shifting to sit down criss-cross on the soft grass. Riolu sat in his lap, looking up at Raihan with wide eyes. Happiness swelled in his heart as Riolu patted his chest, making another squeak.

Jayce sat down next to him, leaning over to look at Riolu. “How do you feel?”

Raihan looked over to Jayce and smiled. “The happiest I’ve ever been.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're confused about what View is, go read one of my other works, To The Victor Go The Spoils! There's an explanation in there.
> 
> Also thank you all for reading this, I've had a lot of fun writing it so far


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raihan looks after the daycare for Jayce...or does he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! I am SO sorry for not posting in such a long time! I haven't forgotten or given up on this, I have just become too busy and didn't have enough mental space to write. BUT! I am back to writing now, and here's a new chapter. The next chapter for To The Victor Go The Spoils is coming out sometime next week, so be on the lookout for that! Ok bye love y'all

Raihan sat in the corner of the nursery yard, Riolu dozing in his lap, watching all the other baby Pokemon play. Next to him sat a few of the toys in case they wanted to play with him. It’s been two days since Riolu first hatched, and all it wanted to do was lay with Raihan and nap on his lap. Which Raihan was fine with, frankly. Riolu was only two days old, and not all babies come out of the egg ready and raring to go.

Raihan had one of his civilian disguises on today: wavy black hair hung over one side of his head, exposing the other shaved side. Glasses sat on his nose, and a graphic tee of the Hammerlocke Gym logo underneath a blue plaid shirt tucked in on one side covered his upper body, as well as some skinny jeans and fashionable shoes for his legs. 

A breeze swept by, pushing a strand of hair into his mouth. He looked over to the fence separating the nursery yard and daycare yard, now fully fixed up. The tip of a Ninetales tail poked out from behind it, the fur brushing up against the wood.

Raihan yawned, growing bored. He liked being out in the yards just fine, but he longed for some more human contact. Jayce was over at his sisters’ daycare and had asked Raihan to watch over the place for a little while.

That was three hours ago.

Riolu stirred in his lap, blinking its red eyes open and stretching its arms and legs.

“Morning there, sleepyhead,” Raihan chuckled as Riolu rolled out of his lap. “God, I’m bored. You bored?”

Riolu stood up and stared at him.

“Yeah me too.” He looked around at the nursery yard. A baby Wooloo comes up to Riolu, a Scorbunny hiding behind the fluff. Wooloo sniffed Riolu’s paw before letting out a “Baa!” of curiosity. Scorbunny ran a circle around the two of them before squeaking happily and grabbing Riolu’s other paw, pulling it out into the yard.

Raihan leaned back against the trunk of a tree, lacing his hands behind his head. Lazy blue eyes watched as the three Pokemon played together, racing each other and playing tag. Riolu looked happy to be playing with them, and Raihan didn't want to take it away from it, but he was getting more bored with each minute.

An idea struck his brain then that made his lips curl up in a smirk.

“Hey Riolu!” Raihan called as he got up to his feet, grabbing his bag that carried one of the Eggs in it from next to him.

Riolu looked back at Raihan before running over to him, letting out an inquisitive chirp.

“How about we go pay our dear little friend a visit?”

Raihan took Riolu out of the yard into the dead end, towards the rest of Bridge Field. Clouds obscured the sun, and the breeze whipped at Raihan’s hair and Riolu’s short glossy fur. Riolu shivered and hugged itself to Raihan’s leg.

Raihan smirked down at it. “Stay close, bud. Wouldn't want you to go wandering out into a fight.”

The sounds of Pokemon milling about filled Raihan’s ears, two long bridges spanning across the Wild Area surrounding him on both sides. Flying-type Pokemon flew overhead, and Raihan caught sight of a feather floating down to the ground in front of them. He stepped forward and scooped it up before it could touch the ground, turning the feather over in his fingers. A Corviknight feather. Those were fairly common to find, since Flying Taxis go over here all the time.

Beneath him, Riolu tugged on his pants, looking up at the feather with wide eyes.

Raihan smiled and knelt down next to Riolu, letting it take the feather. “There you go. That’s yours,” he said as Riolu swung the feather around, watching the small afterfeathers flutter in the movement.

They walked underneath the bridge connecting Motostoke to one of the Galar Mines and over the small bridge leading into the Motostoke Riverbanks. Riolu occupied itself with the feather, sometimes running up ahead to watch the feather be pushed back by the wind.

As they came to the stairs leading up to the big city, Raihan stopped Riolu so he could pick it up. “Don’t want you getting lost in the big city. Jayce would chew me out if I let you get lost,” he muttered as he scaled the steps up.

He walked through the main street with all the shops, the sounds of nature replaced with people chattering, Pokemon cries, and the sounds of machinery at work. Riolu clutched the feather tightly as it took in all the new sights and sounds.

“You like it here?” Raihan asked. “Yeah, me too. It’s a nice place. Not as great as Hammerlocke though,” he smirked. “I betcha you’ll love that place even more.”

He took them up to the gearshift lift up to the second level of the city. A few other people joined him, but not one made any comments as the lift spun around. As he walked off the platform, he noticed a crowd of people around the entrance to Motostoke Stadium, an excited hum surrounding them.

“Wonder what that’s all about,” he hummed to himself as he walked forward to get a closer look.

With his height, he could easily see what all the ruckus was about: Kabu was walking out of the Stadium, wiping his face with his signature towel. A few reporters at the front of the crowd started asking him questions on his opinion on some new challenger that just beat him.

“Damn, missed the show,” Raihan chuckled to himself as he walked away towards the exit to Route 3. “Well, if it doesn’t involve me, I’m not gonna stick around too long.”

Riolu looked over Raihan’s shoulder as he left, holding onto his shoulder with one paw. It chirped curiously in his ear.

“Raihan,” a voice said from behind him.

He stopped and turned around to meet with Kabu, looking up at him while holding onto both ends of his towel.

“Managed to get away from the press?” Raihan chuckled. “I saw the crowd outside, I’m kinda impressed.”

Kabu nodded and looked up at Riolu, who stared down at him with blinking red eyes. “Is it yours?”

Raihan looked over at Riolu as it reached out a paw to Kabu. “Oh, uh, I’m taking care of it. For a friend.”

Kabu pressed his palm against Riolu’s paw, bringing a smile to both of their lips. “How long will you have it?”

“Don’t, don’t really know.” Out of the corner of his eye, he could see people beginning to stare, red flashes of Rotomphones being taken out to take pictures. “Look, I’ve got somewhere to be, I should get going.”

Kabu nodded again, letting his hand drop. “Of course. It was nice seeing you.”

“You too. Hey, good luck with the other challengers. You’ll need it,” he says as he turned back around and started walking again. The stares of the other people still bore into his skin, but it was a feeling he was used to. Even so, he didn't want a possible connection of Jayce to the media--he knew he didn't like it, even though he told Jayce almost a hundred times that barely anybody knows who he is anymore, they won’t know a thing.

Riolu whined sadly as it draped over his shoulder.

“You miss Kabu already?”

It swung its feather around, a pout on its lips.

Raihan laughed. “You might get to see him later. Who knows?”

Cobblestone and tarmac beneath his feet turned into soft grass and dirt as he left the city. People’s chatter turned into Pokemon cries, and the shifting gears all around the city turned into the breeze rushing through, rifling up leaves and grass.

Raihan let Riolu down. “Don’t run too far away from me. Don’t want you getting all caught up in a fight. I don’t even know what your moves are, if you have any useful ones. I’ll have to do that later,” he mumbles as he shoves his hands into his pants pockets.

Like he asked, Riolu stayed as close as it could be while running around, letting the wind catch in the vane and downy barbs. Route 3 was pretty short, and Raihan picked Riolu back up again once they got to the mine. Dodging blind Zubats and surprise Stunfisk, they managed to navigate their way through the mine without much trouble.

At Route 4 on the other end, he once again set Riolu down to let it run around, complaining about how heavy Riolu is. They walk through the Route and through Turffield until they get to Route 5.

Raihan adjusted the straps on his backpack. He hasn’t felt the Egg move around at all, which made him a little concerned. “Maybe it just needs more time than the others,” he reasoned to himself. “But none of the others have hatched too. So...was Riolu just early?” He shook his head. “Eh, I can ask Jayce, that’s his job.”

They walked further down the road until they came across the Route 5 daycare. The outside color was the same vanilla cream, and the white picket fences around the side and towards the back were the same as well. This one, however, seemed to be bigger than Jayce’s, with more windows and larger doors. Picking up Riolu again after it came by and leaned against his leg, he walked into the building.

Almost instantly, Raihan could tell that the sisters’ daycare was better off than Jayce’s. All of the furniture looked brand new and up to date with the interior design trends, and the large windows allowed for a lot of light that made the room seem bigger. The lobby gives off a more professional vibe rather than a homey one.

There’s nobody at the counter, so Raihan just set his bag onto a sofa and walked up to the counter, leaning forward to look into the back areas. Riolu stepped down onto the counter and sniffed at a potted plant next to a computer behind the counter.

“Hello?” Raihan called. “Anyone home?”

His call is answered by a pair of feet running down the steps from the back area. A woman with long brown hair held back in a ponytail, wearing overalls and a blue plaid shirt, came up to him in a hurry. “Sorry for the wait! I’m here now, how can I help you?” Before he could answer, she gasped at Riolu on the counter before petting its head. “Ohmigosh, hi there! It’s so cute!”

Riolu fussed at being petted, making Raihan smirk a little. “Yeah, is Jayce here? I’d like to talk to him.”

The woman blinked at Jayce’s name being mentioned. “Oh, yeah, he’s here. I’ll go get him.” She walked back over to the stairs and cupped her mouth with her hands. “Jayce! Someone’s here for you! He’s really cute!”

Raihan snorted at being called cute as Riolu sat down and swatted at one of its appendages.

Another pair of footsteps came down the stairs. As Jayce got to the bottom of the stairs, his fluffy brown hair without his beanie making him look strange, the woman walked back up the stairs, giving Raihan a little wink.

“I’m sorry about her,” Jayce said, a quiet blush on his face. He stopped when he recognized Raihan’s face, his blush becoming redder. “What are you doing here?”

Riolu jumped to its feet and cried out happily as it jumped out into Jayce’s arms to hug him. Raihan leaned his elbows on the counter, resting his chin in his hand with a smirk. “Do you think I’m cute?”

“That’s not, well, you’re changing the subject!” Jayce said, hugging Riolu back. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I got bored of waiting for you to come back, so I decided to pay you a visit myself. Give Riolu some time outside my place and the daycare, plus take an Egg for a walk too.”

“Is there someone else at the daycare in your place?”

Raihan stood up straighter, crossing his arms together. “Well, no…”

Jayce sighed and shook his head, stepping as close as the counter will allow them. “Raihan, I told you to look after the daycare for a reason. I appreciate you coming out, I really do, but there are Pokemon there that need someone to care for them. Why do you think I don’t leave that often?”

Raihan’s eyes widened as he looked down to the counter, snippets of scenarios of what’s going on back there running through his head: Pokemon attacking the fence again, the babies escaping into the Wild Area, any of the Pokemon getting into the building and messing the whole place up. “Oh…”

“Yeah, oh.” Jayce put Riolu down and stepped out from behind the counter to put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you were trying to do something sweet, and I appreciate that.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Honestly, it’s a nice break from being with my sisters all day.”

“So I actually saved you?” he grinned.

“I guess you--”

The sound of fabric tearing drew both of their attentions over to the sofa, where a Sneasel tore its way through Raihan’s backpack with its claws, crying out for somebody as a piece of its Egg rests on top of its head.

“I think...the Egg just hatched,” Jayce said.

Raihan slumped at seeing his backpack all destroyed. “That was a good one too…”

Sneasel pushed itself out of the shredded exit out of the backpack and fell to the floor, landing with a thump before beginning to cry.

Jayce pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay, gimme two minutes, we’re going home.” He walked over and picked the Sneasel up, cradling it like a baby and whispering in its ear while rubbing its back as he walked back upstairs.

Raihan looked at Riolu, who sat on the counter swinging its legs, before grabbing the ruined backpack and dumping it in the garbage can with a sigh. “Two down, three more to go. How bad can the next one be?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raihan gets thrust back into normal life, and Jayce has to take care of all the babies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooooowdy there. Remember when I said new chapter of To The Victor Go The Spoils will come out that week? Yeah, haven't been doing a good job of that, have I?
> 
> Same thing basically happened with the large break, so I can't guarantee when the new chapter is coming out. I have some more ideas for this fic, so this might take priority. Once the chapter does come out, though, I'll do my best to get back onto weekly updates.
> 
> So yeah, that's basically it. Hope you enjoy this :3

In the week that came, Raihan learned that his words would be shoved right up where the sun don’t shine.

The other three Eggs hatched already: a Ralts who refused to let any other Pokemon touch Raihan, an Eevee who hated his guts, and a Nickit who followed its nature and stole little things all the time like buttons and coins and credit cards. Especially money. Riolu only wanted to either sleep, be carried, or run around, all at the wrong times, and Sneasel seemed to constantly be looking for a fight with anyone.

Every now and then, Raihan would wonder what drove him to adopt all of these Pokemon. Was it the heat of the moment? Was it his conscience? Him feeling bad for them? Whatever it was, he started to regret doing this in the first place.

To add salt to the wound, Challengers were starting to get back into the swing of things and battle Gyms, and a lot of them were winning and getting closer to Hammerlocke. He needed time to train up and make sure his team is in shape, so he had to give his Pokemon off to Jayce while he did.

The end of the week passed by, and Jayce trudged up the stairs after finally putting the babies to sleep for nap time. Stoutland walked by his side with Ralts and Sneasel, who refused to fall asleep by themselves. Sneasel’s claws gripped the fabric, wanting to break free of its constraints, but a stern look from Stoutland every now and then quelled those wants. Ralts tried to poke its head out from the pouch, the pink growth on its head the only thing actually getting over the flap.

The second floor of the daycare held a living room, dining room, and kitchen. In the living room, a large worn-down couch on top of a grey and white rug sat in front of a TV on the stand, a few family pictures above it. A reading nook nestled itself against a window, giving him a view of the two yards with some books on the shelf underneath. The dining room was really just a small table with two chairs, and the kitchen was small as well, but it suited him just fine. Next to the kitchen was a door leading to his bedroom, and another door on the opposite wall led to the laundry room.

Jayce flopped down onto the couch with a tired sigh, Stoutland laying next to him. He grabbed Sneasel and Ralts and put them in his lap. “You two are too much, you know?”

Ralts fussed at being in a lap that wasn’t Raihan’s, and Sneasel growled at Ralts with a tone that suggested a fight. Ralts growled back, and Jayce’s vision went black for a second before his View activated. Both Pokemon were female, both Lv. 1, both with full health.

“No, stop it,” Jayce said, pushing the two of them away from each other. “No fighting.”

Ralts rolled off of Jayce’s lap and against the arm of the couch, but Sneasel managed to scratch the back of his hand before Stoutland grabbed it with its soft jaw and pulled Sneasel to it. With that, his View clicked off and all was normal.

Jayce hissed in pain and looked at the damage. A trickle of blood came from each scratch, but nothing horrible. “Again?” he muttered as he got up to go to the bathroom and clean off. Twice in two weeks he got injured by a Pokemon. Must be a new record.

After putting a bandage on his hand, he rolled his sleeve up to check on the scratches from the Hatterene. They healed up a while ago, but he could still make out the outlines of where claws met skin. He traced over a part with his finger. If they stuck as scars, it could be a cool conversation point.

He walked back out to the living room to see the TV already turned on to a livestream of a Pokemon battle. He didn't remember turning it on, but he figured it was Ralts using its powers. He sat back down as a Gym Challenger came on screen, a boy with sharp green eyes and golden hair. He held two Great Balls close to his chest as the camera cut to his opponent. Raihan grinned maliciously at the boy before crouching into his battle stance, claws out and eyes glued on the target. 

It had been a while since Jayce saw Raihan whenever he battled, all fierce and intimidating. He had gotten so used to seeing him soft and kind that this seemed like a completely different person. That couldn’t be who Raihan really was; a mask he puts on to the public eye. He wasn’t intimidating or threatening. He was caring, and gentle, and so sweet.

Stoutland put his head in his lap with a “murf”, and Jayce ran his fingers through its long fur with one hand, pointing to the screen with the other. “Look! It’s Raihan!”

Ralts exclaimed happily and reached out to the screen, floating off the couch and over to the TV. Jayce shook his head, a small smile on his face. “Psychic-types are weird,” he chuckled.

Both parties drew out their Pokemon, and the match began. It felt a little weird for Jayce to not be able to see the stats in a battle. His View didn't work with TV screens, which was both a blessing and a curse. There were times where he wished that he could truly know what was going on in that battle, even though he knew no one else knew.

A sandstorm kicked up in the stadium, and the camera flew through it to find where the Trainers were. There was a little fear dancing around in the boy’s eyes, but he held his stance firm, commanding his Inteleon to shoot a concentrated beam of water at his Gigalith.

The battle, unfortunately, didn't last long. For each Pokemon Raihan threw at him, it seemed like the boy had the perfect counterpart. Even when he Gigantimaxed his Duraludon, the boy came at him with a Dynamaxed Gardevoir and ended it right then and there.

“Wow,” Jayce sighed as he leaned back into the couch. “Poor Raihan.”

Raihan indeed seemed annoyed at the turnout of the battle, but nonetheless congratulated the boy and gave him the final Gym Badge, emblazoned with the dark blue flaming dragon’s head.

Ralts cried out for Raihan again from the floor in front of the screen, and Jayce twisted a chunk of fur around his finger thoughtfully. “Hammerlocke’s a bit away...but the match just finished. Hey, what say we go over to Hammerlocke?” He looked down at Stoutland for approval, who just looked back up at him with its large eyes. “Pop in for a little surprise visit? We could pay him back for last time.”

When Stoutland gave no answer, Jayce took it as a yes. He turned the TV off--much to Ralts’ dismay--and scooped up the two Pokemon before walking down the stairs. He grabbed two Pokeballs and pulled the two into them. “There we go. Money, check. Hat, check. Pokemon…” He looked down at the Pokeballs in his hands before putting them into his pockets. “I’ll bring these two.”

An inquisitive chirp from the doorway grabbed his attention. Riolu, gripping its feather, leaned against the doorway and stared up at him with large red eyes.

“Alright, you can come too.” Jayce laughed at the smile that came across Riolu’s face as it ran over to him, holding its arms up to him. Riolu didn't cooperate with any of Jayce’s attempts to get it into a Pokeball, so it’s just been roaming around ever since it was born.

Jayce rolled his eyes before picking Riolu up. “Needy much?” He looked down at Stoutland. “Stay here and make sure nothing happens,” he said with a nod from Stoutland. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” With that, he walked out and called a Flying Taxi to pick him up.

~~~~~

Raihan walked out of his private room in the stadium with a heavy sigh. That last battle totally brought his mood down. It was the fifth battle he had done in the last few days, and the third he had lost. He was supposed to be the most powerful Gym Leader in Galar, rivaled only by the Champion. So why was he losing to all these kids? What happened to him?

League members and stadium employees ran around the hallway, barely sparing a glance at him as they went about their busy work. He took a turn down the hallway with them, looking down at his Rotomphone as he walked. He scrolled through his gallery, at all the selfies he had taken during this year. The most recent one with the boy, the other Challengers he lost against, he even found one of the current Champion, back when she was just a Challenger. He wondered what she thought when she won the battle against him. Did she think it was an easy win? Did she think of him as not the Trainer she thought he was?

He shook his head and put the phone away, shoving his hands into his pockets. No, he couldn’t do that right now. He already had his time to mope; now he had to go about his life and prepare for the next Challenger.

A soft breeze greeted him as he walked out of the stadium doors. Off to the side, the boy was being interviewed for one of the big news networks in Galar. He couldn’t hear much of the questions they were asking him, but he managed to catch the Champion’s name. She would certainly have a ball with that guy.

Something suddenly ran into his leg, clutching onto it. He looked down to see Riolu hugging his arm tightly, looking up at him with a happy smile.

“Riolu?” he asked aloud. “What are you--”

“Raihan!” Jayce called as he ran up to him, the breeze catching his curls underneath the hat.

Raihan couldn’t help but smile as he picked Riolu up and ran to meet him in the middle of the bridge. “Hey! What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at the daycare?”

Jayce shrugged. “I just watched your match, and I decided it was a good time to pay you back for when you visited me.”

“Even though I just visited you out of sheer boredom?”

He laughed and nodded. “Yeah, even though you only did it out of sheer boredom, while I came out of the goodness of my heart.” He put a hand over his heart and tilted his chin up. “Clearly I am the better man.”

Raihan rolled his eyes before tugging down Jayce’s beanie over his eyes. “Stop it, you’re making it look like I have weird people as friends.”

“Oh come on, the one time I’m in a really joking mood and you say that to me?” He pushed his beanie out of his face. “I’m never gonna joke again.”

“No, don’t do that. I like it when you joke.”

“Good. You should.”

Raihan suddenly heard Riolu’s stomach growl in hunger. “Hey, you wanna stop and get lunch? The restaurants here’ve got pretty good food.”

Jayce frowned and laced his fingers together. “Like, to sit down? I don’t think I can, honestly. I left the daycare under Stoutland and he can only do so much.”

Raihan shrugged before handing Riolu off to him. “Alright, you go back to the daycare, I’ll get some takeout, we eat at your place?”

“Are you sure about that?” Jayce asked as he took Riolu. “What about training and your duties?”

“Yeah, I’ve got those, but I can take some time to eat lunch with a friend,” Raihan smiled. “I need a brain break from battling anyways.”

“Alright, if you insist. Go get whatever you want, I’m not picky.” He started heading back to the Wild Area, but not without a parting goodbye: “I’ll see you then, Gym Leader.”

Raihan smirked and rolled his eyes fondly at him. “I’ll see you then, Tamer of Pokemon.”

~~~~~

Flygon landed in front of the daycare center and sniffed at the bag of food Raihan brought as he slid off its back, its eyes closed and mouth opening and closing like it was eating the air.

“I’ll give you some, calm yourself,” Raihan chuckled, luring Flygon to the door with the bag. He sized the door up, then sized Flygon up. “I thiiiiink you can fit in here, just gotta try and squeeze through.”

Luckily, Flygon was able to fit through the door with a bit of shrinking itself down. Walking around the lobby, however, was a bit of a problem. Its long tail tipped over a potted plant, soil spilling out over the hardwood floor. While it tried to nudge the plant back upright, it barely missed hitting Raihan in the head.

“Gah, stop, I’ll get it,” Raihan said as he set the food down and put the plant back up. “Where’s the broom…”

“In here,” Jayce said as he came down the stairs with Stoutland, Riolu riding on its back. He opened the cabinet and grabbed a small broom and dustpan. “Uh, your Pokemon’s looking kinda big in this here small room.”

“You think?” Raihan asked, lacing his hands behind his head. “We should probably eat outside. It’s a nice day today, give us some fresh air, give the Pokemon room to play around.” He nodded to Stoutland, who came up to Flygon to sniff at it. “Little meet and greet.”

“Yeah, it’s lunch time for the Pokemon as well. You go take the food out there, I’ll clean up in here and feed the others.”

Raihan shook his head. “No, I’ll clean up. You go feed them. How many you got here, 30?”

“15, including your Pokemon, so it’s a relief.” He hands Raihan the dustpan and broom. “Shouldn’t take too long. What did you get anyways?”

“Oh, got some burgers and fries. Long wait, but it’s worth it.”

“Sounds great!” Jayce said as he headed out to the back to start feeding the Pokemon.

Raihan sat outside with the scent of freshly cooked curry coming from the back and the greasy food he got filling his nose. He zipped off his jacket and tossed it to the side, leaning against the wall. He took off his headband and let his hair down with a sigh. He needed to cut his hair. It was starting to get past his chin, and the sides could use a shave.

He stared up at the cliffside, looking at the intricate details erosion made on the soil and rock. Who would’ve thought to build something like a daycare in a dead-end? Daycares would need a lot of room to let Pokemon play around, yet Jayce’s does just fine with what he’s got. He shrugged and flicked a chunk of his hair. What did he know about daycares?

Jayce sat down after a while, stretching his arms over his head. “Well, that went a little longer than I hoped.” He glanced over to Raihan before taking his beanie off and tossing it to the side, undoing one of the buttons on his overalls.

Raihan looked over to him. “What are you doing?”

“It looked like you were relaxing, so I am too.”

“Grookey see, Grookey do,” he grinned.

Jayce rolled his eyes before grabbing one of the takeout boxes from the bag.

The two ate their burgers and fries in silence for a while. Jayce let Raihan’s Pokemon and Stoutland into the front yard to play around with each other. Ralts immediately went to Raihan’s side, leaning against it and taking an almost defensive stance.

“It’s obsessed with me,” Raihan mumbled as he finished off his bacon cheeseburger.

“Ralts and its evolution line are extremely loyal to their Trainers, most notably Gardevoir,” Jayce said in a very matter-of-factly voice. “It’s said that they have the ability to create small black holes in order to protect their Trainer.”

“Nerd,” Raihan smirked.

“You have to be a nerd in order to be good at this job.” He nodded to Ralts, currently giving a stink eye to Nickit. “But it kinda reminds me of myself with my youngest sister. I was very protective of her when she was a baby. She’s only a teenager now.” He looked up at Raihan, a reminiscing look in his eyes. “Time sure flew by.”

“Was that the one who thought I was cute?”

Jayce rolled his eyes again. “You’re still caught up on that? But no, that wasn’t.”

“Hey, I like being called cute!” He ran his hand through his hair, raising an eyebrow up a little and giving a coy smirk like he was in a photoshoot. “It’s a compliment no matter who it’s from.”

“But you get compliments all the time!” He cupped his hands around his mouth and pretended to shout into the audience. “We love you Raihan! You’re so handsome! Marry me! Whoooooo!”

Raihan laughed and slapped a hand onto his knee. “You sound just like them. But, on a different note.” He turned to Jayce, the coy smirk returning to his face. “That sister told you I was cute, and then gave me a little wink. Do you have any clue what that was supposed to mean?”

Jayce’s cheeks flushed. “What? What wink?”

“One that went a little something like this.” He copied the wink the sister gave him.

“Oh, that wink,” Jayce sighed. “She’s the one who tries to set me up all the time. Any time I mention anyone I know, she immediately wants to meet them and size me up.”

Raihan chuckled, a strange warm feeling entering his chest. “She just wants you to have someone to love, mate. Is it that bad?”

“Sometimes, yeah,” he muttered as he chewed in a fry covered in seasoning. “This food is delicious, by the way.”

“Told ya it was. Best in Hammerlocke.” He gave a fry to both Flygon and Nickit, both of whom were begging for one and getting screamed at by Ralts at the same time. “But in all seriousness, having someone with you is a great thing. At least, I imagine it would be.”

“You don’t know?” Jayce asked, pulling his legs in to sit crisscross applesauce. “Have you never had anybody?”

Raihan shook his head as a warm breeze swept by, ruffling the hair on both pairs of heads. “I’ve been asked many many many times, believe me, but I never actually had one. I wanna find someone that I can connect with, that I feel safe with and that I can trust. Having so many strangers around me and my life all the time, you would think that I could’ve found someone from the crowd. But I’ve been looking, and so far, no one.”

Jayce frowned and scooted over a little, putting a hand on Raihan’s shoulder. “I think you’ll find them, in time. They just haven’t shown their face.”

He chuckled and put a hand over his. It felt warm and strong and small underneath his long and large hand. “Thanks mate. I think you’ll find that special someone too.”

And immediately after that, Nickit stole a fry.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A special invitation comes in the mail for Raihan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, almost a month, would you look at that. I am not doing too well on keeping up with updates. Sorry guys! It's a little hard getting into the right headspace for writing, but I'm working on it and am working to provide you guys with content! Anyways, here's this, I PROMISE I will update To The Victor at some point :)

Eevee slept soundly in its nest by the door to Raihan’s apartment, cozy blankets lining a fluffy Pokemon bed. It insisted on sleeping there no matter what and nowhere else. If anybody tried to pick it up, their hands would meet a doom filled with tiny teeth marks. The morning sun shone through the large windows on the other end of the apartment, running across the dark hardwood floors.

Its ear twitched to a sound coming from the door, waking it up. Cracked eyes spotted an envelope being pushed through the slot and dropping onto the floor. With a yawn and a stretch, it walked out of bed and hopped down to inspect the strange new item.

A cream-colored envelope stood out from the dark wood, a red wax seal of the Macro Cosmos logo keeping it closed. It sniffed at the seal before biting at the edge of the envelope.

“Eevee, no!” Raihan exclaimed as he ran to the door, a wet towel on his head from a shower. Eevee jumped away and hissed at Raihan, fur going stick straight before it dashed away.

Raihan sighed and shook his head before picking up the envelope, one edge bit off. He raised an eyebrow at the seal before flipping it over to the front, where his name was written in beautiful cursive. He knew what this letter was for. Pulling the towel off onto his neck, he broke the seal and opened the envelope.

Inside held an ivory card, bordered with vines and branches all tangled together, roses blooming every now and then. An invitation to the annual ball, hosted by Chairman Rose himself for the Gym Leaders and the Champion to get together and celebrate another year gone by.

The toaster popped, a freshly toasted piece of bread awaiting him. He flipped the card around as he walked to the kitchen. An RSVP section, along with a box to check off for a guest. He hadn’t brought a guest to the ball in all the times he’s gone. Many times, people would ask him who he brought, and he would just say himself. He didn't really have anyone to go with him.

He put the bread onto a plate and grabbed a jar of Oran berry jam from the fridge. Did he like going there by himself? No, not really, but it was what he got used to. The ball was two weeks from now, so he had time to ask someone. Question is who exactly. One of his Gym Trainers? He knew Camilla would love to go to a fancy ball like this, but Aria would too. Sebastian is nice to have at formal events, but he takes him to a lot of those.

His Rotomphone chirped and flew out of his pocket as he spread the jam onto the bread. “Time for your morning post, Raihan!” the electronic voice said, the blue eyes flashing with each syllable as it flipped around to show himself on the screen.

“Thanks, mate,” he said as he grabbed the envelope to show to the camera. He bit into the toast as Rotom took the photo. It rotated to show him the photo already in a social media post, ready to be captioned and posted. Raihan grabbed the phone and typed a caption in: “Good morning Galar! How’s your day going? I just got this strange letter in the mail. Wonder what it is…”

“Post that,” Raihan mumbled through his food. Now, where was he? Who to go with, who to go with…

A lightbulb went off in his head. Oh, he knew just who to bring.

~~~~~

Raihan found Jayce in the daycare backyard, standing in a full soapy tin bathtub running his hands through a Grimmsnarl’s black hair, his shoes and socks off to the side and overall pants rolled up past his knees. It sat patiently in the tub, its eyes closed and body relaxed. Soap weaved itself into its hair in a thick lather, and bubbles sat at the top.

Raihan leaned against the doorway, watching Jayce work with the Pokemon. All of this seemed so natural to him, bathing Grimmsnarl in a way that kept it calm and happy, which was impressive for a Pokemon meant to be intimidating. Jayce scratched at its scalp, and it leaned its head into his hands with a noise similar to a purr. “Yeah, you like that,” Jayce chuckled.

“It certainly does,” Raihan said, alerting them to his presence. All of the relaxations in Grimmsnarl’s body completely evaporated and got replaced with tension as it whirled around and snarled at Raihan.

Jayce rubbed Grimmsnarl’s arm soothingly as Raihan took a tiny step back. “Hey, it’s alright,” Jayce murmured soothingly in its ear. “It’s alright. He’s a good friend, a nice and gentle one. He won’t hurt you.”

Grimmsnarl let out another growl before it seemed to relax a small bit, keeping stern eye contact with Raihan.

Jayce looked back to Raihan, still rubbing Grimmsnarl’s arm. “Hey, could you come over here? Like, more in front of Grimmsnarl.”

Raihan walked over to the bathtub, feeling the tense gaze of the Pokemon cut through his bones. “It, uh, wow, it’s tense on all levels.”

Jayce nodded as he got back to work with the hair. “Yeah, Grimmsnarl isn’t the fondest of humans. It grew up in a place filled with a lot of negativity and exploitation, specifically for fighting. You can imagine how that affected its view on humans.”

Raihan nodded grimly. “Yeah, I can. That’s terrible.”

“It is. There’s an organization that I work with that cares for abused and traumatized Pokemon. They rescue them from unsafe environments and care for them and their needs. Every so often, one of their workers will bring me a Pokemon to care for. It helps the organization have a few extra hands, the Pokemon to learn how to trust the right humans again, and me learning how to properly care for those types of Pokemon. It’s something new to learn every time.”

Raihan smiled at Jayce. “You’re so dedicated to helping these Pokemon. That’s a really cool thing, y’know?”

“I do know,” he chuckles as he grabs a small bucket from the ground and fills it with bathtub water, pouring it over the hair slowly and washing away the soap. “So what’s up? Did you come to just hang out?”

“No, actually, I came to ask you something.” He pulled out the invitation and stepped forward to hold it in front of Jayce, making sure to keep in Grimmsnarl’s field of vision. “There’s this ball all the Gym people go to every year, basically just a time to get together and chat. And I haven’t brought a guest over in, well, ever, so I was wondering if you wanted to come with me as my plus one.”

“A ball?” Jayce asked, narrowing his eyes a little to read the invitation. “Are you sure you want me to come?”

Raihan nodded. “Yeah, I want a friend there. And I think you would like it. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for a lot of people.”

Jayce bit his tongue as he squeezed the water from Grimmsnarl’s hair. “I’m not sure I can take the time off work though. It’s just me here.”

“You can ask one of your sisters, right? They’ll still have two pairs of hands there, and it’s only for a day two weeks from now. That’s plenty of time to prepare.”

“Two weeks…” He stepped out onto the grass and grabbed a ratty brown towel to wipe his hands off. “Alright, I’ll go with you.”

Raihan laughed and clapped a hand onto his shoulder. “Knew I could persuade you. It’s my charming good looks, isn’t it?” he smirked as he put a finger gun under his chin and winked at him.

Jayce rolled his eyes before shoving Raihan away. “You’re weird.”

“My millions of followers think I’m perfect, thank you very much.”

“I never said you weren’t perfect,” he muttered as he tapped Grimmsnarl’s shoulder and it stepped out of the bathtub so he could start drying it off.

Raihan blinked and dropped his hand. “What?”

Jayce’s face reddened. He was suddenly glad he was facing away from Raihan. “What?”

“You said I was perfect.”

“No, no I didn't! I didn't say anything like that!” He squeezed the water out of Grimmsnarl’s hair as he fruitlessly tried to deny what he said.

Raihan smirked and chuckled lowly, shaking his head fondly at him. “Whatever you say, weirdo.”

A beep came from his pocket, and he checked his phone. An alarm to remind him of a news interview in an hour. He cursed under his breath. “I gotta head out. Ask your sisters about babysitting, alright?”

Jayce nodded, picking up the bathtub with Grimmsnarl’s help. “Yep, will do!” He dumped the soapy water out into the grass outside the fence as Raihan left, making a little victory fist as he did.

~~~~~

A week passed by full of events. More Challengers won and lost against Raihan, adding to the roster of Trainers at the Champion Cup. It seemed this year, the Cup would have more Trainers vying for a chance to fight against the new Champion. Last year it was, what? Only three? What suddenly got into these kids?

Jayce’s oldest sister agreed to watch over the daycare for the ball, so until then, she and Jayce had been working together for the first time in years. Jayce was glad for the help, but he had to admit, it felt weird to have it coming from his sister. It felt like an obligation as family rather than actually wanting to help.

As he and his sister cleaned inside the building, the walls rumbled as something came right outside the door. The water in the mop bucket formed small circular waves as Jayce looked out the window. A Corviknight sat perched on top of a Flying Taxi compartment, the driver stroking the feathers of the Pokemon.

Raihan stepped out of the compartment and stretched his long arms and legs out. The compartment was made for people of normal height, not giants like him. What was he doing with one?

His sister peeked out of the window as well. “Is that your date?”

Jayce nudged her away. “He’s not my date, I’m his plus one.”

“Right, like that isn’t the same thing,” she smirked, laughing when she saw the tips of his ears turn red. She put a hand on his shoulder. “Go on, go see what he wants.”

Jayce rested the mop against the wall and opened the door, peeking his head out. Raihan grinned and gestured to the Flying Taxi. “Hey! You coming or what?”

He nodded and stepped out. “Yeah, yeah I’m coming.”

“Good luck!” his sister called as he closed the door.

Jayce looked up at the Corviknight, beak tucked under its wing as it preened. “What’s up with this?”

“This is our ride to Wyndon. You need a suit and a new tour of the city. You aren’t going to remember all of the important streets from your memory, what, ten years ago?”

Jayce’s eyes widened. “Wait wait wait. I already have a suit though, I can just wear that.”

“How old is that suit?”

“Um, a few years?”

Raihan shook his head. “Trust me, you’re gonna need a new suit. To formal events like these, it’s rare to see someone wearing the same thing they wore a few years ago. Sure, twice is fine, but again, don’t really get to see that.” He pats his shoulder. “Besides, you probably grew out of it.”

Jayce shook his head. “I didn't grow out of it, I just tried it on a few days ago.”

“Still, if you want to be taken seriously there, you should get a new suit.” He put a hand to his heart. “Come on, my treat.”

His eyes darted over Raihan’s face before he let out a sigh and stepped into the compartment. “You have got to stop doing these things for me.”

“What if I want to?” he asked as he stepped in and closed the door. His hair pressed against the top of the compartment, and he curled his legs as close to him as he could. Even so, their knees still managed to touch.

Jayce looked out of the window as they took off from the ground. “But do you feel like you have to do stuff for me?”

Raihan shook his head and leaned back as much as he could. “Nah mate, it’s not like that. I like doing things for my friends.”

“You do have more than me as a friend, right?”

“Of course I do,” Raihan laughed. “Do you really think I’m that lonely to have only one friend?”

Jayce put a hand to his heart. “Ouch, that was harsh on the introverts. And you know I’m talking about people outside of the internet as well?”

Raihan waved a hand. “Of course I do.”

“So why don’t you hang out with them as well?”

“I do! What do you think I do those days where I don’t see you?” He tried to put his arms behind his head, ramming his elbows into the sides of the compartment instead. “Not to say that I don’t prefer hanging out with you.”

Jayce raised an eyebrow as Raihan rubbed his tingling elbows. “Wait, really? So why do you have those people as friends if you don’t like hanging out with them?”

“Well, I do like hanging out with them, that’s why they’re my friends. But I like the sense of calmness you bring.”

“Calmness?”

Raihan nodded. “People bring the air of the place they live with them everywhere. Or at least, most of the time. It’s a strange thing I can read. I can tell if people live in the city or in the countryside or in a tiny little town from how they just are. City people are uptight most of the time, used to all the sounds and sights of the crowded cities. They’ve been to every nook and cranny in those large streets and can take you to places you could only dream of. Country people look like they know the secrets of the universe, because they’ve spent so much time staring up at the stars. They know how to get things done and done right. Small town people feel comfortable everywhere they go and aren’t afraid of much. They know everybody by heart and are normally empathetic to everyone.” He gestured to Jayce. “You have that small-town vibe, the one that brings comfort to the people they hang around with. That’s one of the reasons I like hanging out with you.”

A quiet blush came across Jayce’s cheeks at the long speech. He put a hand to his chest, feeling how hard his heart was beating. It was just words; unexpected ones, but just his thoughts. Why did his chest feel tight? “Wow, didn't peg you for a poet,” he chuckled.

“I’m just speaking my thoughts,” Raihan laughed. “Not planning on releasing a book anytime soon.”

“You should do it. Become one of the great poets of the century.”

Raihan laughed harder. “Like I could be able to sit down and write every day. I’d get bored of it within a week.”

As the Flying Taxi flew them over the medieval city of Hammerlocke, they talked about the struggles of writing and the thoughts that went through their minds, the dreams they had as children and how they changed as they became adults. The air went from playful to pensive as they passed over the snowy White Hill station and landed in the entrance to the great city of Wyndon.

Raihan paid the Taxi as Jayce got out and looked around at the city. A family taking pictures sat at the fountain in the middle of the roundabout, a Galarian Mr. Mime sitting next to a young girl with a smile on both of their faces. People walked by in fashionable outfits, ad banners displayed on the buildings above them, showing off the newest line of clothing or makeup brands worn on models or even Gym Leaders.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been here,” he said as the Flying Taxi took off to its next destination.

“Told ya you would need a guide,” Raihan smirked, patting his shoulder as he started walking to the main street. “Come on, I know this good place. They’ll give me a discount on tailored suits for us.”

Jayce raised an eyebrow. “Us? I thought it was just me.”

Raihan shrugged, resting his arms behind his head. “It was at first, but I thought, why not get myself a new one? I can afford it easily, and hey! We can match.”

Jayce shoved his hands into his overall pockets. “You wanna match?”

“Do you not want to?”

He holds a hand up. “No, I’m fine with matching! It just, it just surprised me, that’s all.” He started thinking about what it would be like to have him and Raihan wearing matching suits to a ball. What would they look like? What would everyone else think? Would they think they were dating? He tugged his beanie down further at the thought.

“Here we are,” Raihan said as he took them into a huge tailor’s shop. As soon as they walked in, Jayce could tell this is where the richest of the rich came for their suits. Every person there looked like they owned a small town and still had money to spare, with their expensive-looking clothes and auras of superiority.

He looked down at himself, in his yellow plaid shirt covered by overalls with work boots and a beanie, suddenly feeling very out of place. “I am not wearing the right things to be here.”

Raihan looked down at him. “You certainly stand out from the crowd,” he chuckled, earning a small glare from Jayce. “But we’re gonna fix that.”

Three mirrors stood in the back of the store, facing a small platform at three different angles. Raihan waved a well-dressed man over with measuring tape draped around his neck and told him to “get this small-town man a good suit.” And so Jayce was submitted to a bunch of measuring and trying on many jackets and shirts and pants and even shoes.

Where he had the most problems were the jackets and shirts. The shoulders were either too broad or not broad enough, and the arms would more than often be too tight whenever he moved around.

Raihan lounged in a chair next to the mirrors, legs splayed out in front of him and his own suit in the protective covering hanging lazily from a finger. “Geez, how beefy are your arms?” he asked, his head resting in one of his hands.

“Well, kinda beefy,” Jayce said as the tailor took off the jacket and went in search of another one. He rolled one of his sleeves up as best he could, which was only to his elbow, and flexed his bicep. Raihan’s eyes widened a bit at how hidden his biceps actually were in his arms. They weren’t by any means skinny, but it wasn’t entirely what he expected.

“I’m not as strong as Milo or anything,” Jayce said as he rolled his sleeve down. “But I do a lot of labor at the daycare. It’s not really a job you can always have a break from. Whether it’s tending to the Pokemon or making food or fixing something up around the land, there’s almost always something to do.”

Raihan rubbed his cheek, feeling a small warmth creeping in. “Yeah, I’ve been around you long enough to know it’s a hard job. And honestly? You and your sisters have gone unappreciated in Galar.”

Jayce smiled a bit as he tried on another jacket, pulling it over his chest and down onto his shoulders. “Thanks, mate. Nice to have someone out there spreading the love.” He looked back to the tailor. “This one fits well.”

“Finally,” Raihan groaned as he got up and crossed his arms over his chest, giving Jayce an appraising look. “Looking good, looking good. Just one last thing.” He swiped his beanie off his head, exposing his brown curls.

Jayce swiped it right back. “Wow, rude,” he said as he ran a hand through his hair, fixing it and sweeping it to the side. “I don’t think it’ll be runway perfect, but it’s good enough.”

Raihan rested his arms behind his head and smirked. “What, not gonna gel it up?”

Jayce shook his head. “Nah, that’ll make me look like I belong there.”

“You already look foreign to everyone else,” Raihan laughed. “But that doesn’t matter, because we’ll be the best looking couple there.”

Jayce’s face flushed. Raihan really just called them a couple. Even the tailor’s eyebrow went up at the word. “Yeah, couple. We’ll be a good couple.”

Is this how Raihan would act at the ball? Would he keep referring to the two of them as a couple, or was this just a one-time thing to get him to blush? Seeing as how Raihan acted as if nothing happened and told Jayce to get changed so he could buy the suits, it could’ve been either one of them. He tugged his beanie back on. Guess he would find out at the end of the week.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jayce spends a day in the wonderful city of Wyndon. Just a completely normal day. Not much happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, had some problems with this one, but here it is anyway. Hope y'all like it, and the ball's coming up soon! That's probably gonna be either a long chapter or I split it up somehow, who knows?

Wyndon Stadium. How long it had been since he saw the bulbous building looming over him, the glazed red reflecting the sun off it. So many years ago, he stood in almost this very spot, looking up at the blooming rose and feeling his heart race with anticipation. This is where he would fight through the Champion Cup and defeat the Champion at the time, right before Leon. But that year would be the year a new Champion took the throne.

That was the year his dream came crashing down on him.

Jayce stared up at it from the corner of the sidewalk, the summer wind in his face. Lost in the wisps of nostalgia, he took himself back to that day. The day where he walked in and fans were cheering his name, giving him good luck and telling him he could win this. The day where he faced off against the wrong trainer that shot him down like an arrow to an Applin. The day where he went home and felt like a failure, barely able to face his family even though they didn't feel ashamed at all. They felt so proud that their only son was able to make it so far in such a rough game. They were so, so proud of him.

He tore his gaze away and shook his head, bringing himself back to the present. He didn't think that coming back to Wyndon would make him relive so many memories. He took in a deep breath before heading down the sidewalk away from the Stadium.

The ball was tomorrow, and this was his first full day staying in Wyndon. The Rose of the Rondelands was kind enough to give each of the ball’s attendants hotel rooms before the ball, for those who travelled from far away to come. He didn't know who was staying in the room he stayed at when he was young, but he got one near the top floor for almost no cost at all. He had stayed there for a while, flipping through the different channels on the TV and enjoying the different luxuries the hotel offered, but he decided to take a walk on his own and explore what the metropolis had to offer.

So far: a bunch of expensive stuff and buildings everywhere without much of a park. Well, there was one, but it wasn’t that impressive.

Looks were also a thing he got whenever he happened to wander into a store. He felt those eyes on him the first time he went into the tailor’s shop with Raihan, and he wasn’t entirely surprised that it happened again. He didn't bring his fanciest clothes, just some worn-out jeans with a few t-shirts, his work clothes, and his suit. He also wasn’t the most fashionable guy on the planet, so that didn't help him either.

Was it always this bad in Wyndon? Did people always look down on others because of assumptions they make based on someone’s appearance? If this city is supposed to represent the best of the best in Galar, then they’re doing a poor job of it.

He took a turn into the deeper part of town when he stepped headfirst into two boys running down the sidewalk. He didn't get a good look at them, only that they both hit his side.

“Sorry!” Jayce exclaimed, which was met with laughter as the boys ran off without an apology. He sighed and shook his head. “Some kids…” He continued to walk.

Wait. Something didn't feel right.

He ran a mental tally of what he had with him. Phone, check. Wallet, check. Watch, check. Stoutland’s Pokeball…

He shoved his hand into the pocket where he kept the Pokeball. He decided to bring Stoutland along with him today, let it walk through the park with him and have lunch together. Why not bring along his friend, he figured. Why not enjoy the day?

His hand grasped at nothing.

Stoutland was gone.

“HEY!” He bolted after the kids, ducking through a couple walking behind him. They took Stoutland. He knew it. Those kids took Stoutland and he had to catch them before he lost them.

Heart racing and feet pounding against concrete, he ran as fast as he could. He didn't know the streets of the city well at all, but he knew the general direction of where they went, and that was close enough. He stopped at a street corner and whipped his head in every direction, looking for any small sign of any boys holding a Pokeball that wasn’t theirs. Why didn't he look, why didn't he pay attention, why did he just assume that they were boys running around and having some fun in the street? You couldn’t trust anybody in a big city like this.

There, out the corner of his eye: two blond boys in leather jackets despite it being the middle of summer stood in the entrance of an alleyway, one of them tossing up a Pokeball. His Pokeball. As he took a sharp turn in their direction, they ducked into the alley.

“No!” He sprinted ahead as fast as he could, his beanie almost falling off in the wind. With those few seconds out of his gaze, they could be anywhere. He didn't know the inner streets like they would, he could easily lose them. He couldn’t take that risk. He couldn’t lose Stoutland.

He ran headfirst into the dark aura of the alleys. As he ventured deeper and deeper in, listening for the sound of those boys--those _thieves_ \--dread continued to seep into his heart. He stopped for a second to listen. Two pairs of feet running off ahead of him, but they both came from different directions. One right, one left. His breathing became shaky as he continued to run. One of those sounds led to Stoutland; the other, to whatever sort of trap they devised. Who to pick? Who to let go? Could he take the risk?

He almost screamed in frustration as he took the left path.

He ran and he ran, towards the sound of feet. At the corner of an intersection, he stopped, leaning his arm against the cold brick. His heart pounded against his chest, his legs felt a little fuzzy from running so much, and he tried to catch his breath as he panted. Eyes glassy with unshed tears, he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. How long had he been chasing them? How long had he been trapped in this maze, this game that the boys played? Energy ran out of him like water down a creek, defeat setting in. He couldn’t find them. He wouldn't be able to.

A stray Rattata ran across the stone road underneath him, an Oran berry in its mouth, muffled squeaks coming from its mouth. It stopped in the middle of the intersection and stood on its hind legs, facing Jayce as it began to nibble on the berry.

“At least you found what you wanted,” Jayce whispered, closing his eyes and leaning his head against his arm.

Rattata suddenly squeaked and scuttled away, taking its berry with it. Past the walls, bouncing off the brick, a small voice spoke. “Ugh, disgusting Pokemon…”

Jayce’s eyes flew open. He didn't know the voice, but it sounded young and filled with a superiority complex and a stupid haircut. That was them. That was one of the boys.

“Leave it be,” another voice said, with the same youngness and haughtiness as the first. “It’s destined to live in the streets like all the rest.”

“Why are we here again?” the first one asked. “We could’ve done this in our apartment, not in…” He gagged. “The slum-filled alleys.”

“Because that dirt person followed us. We had nowhere else to run. Bertrum, you must simply think about things for two seconds before you ask questions.”

Jayce peeked out from his corner down the alleyway. In a little square in between the narrow streets, the two boys stood together, one of them holding Stoutland’s Pokeball in his well-manicured hand. Both of them had that haircut that just screamed “rich entitled kid,” and he saw a fancy emblem of a Gallade on the back of one of their jackets.

“Well,” Not-Bertrum sighed as he took the Pokeball and twirled it around in his fingers. “At least we lost him, and we’ve got a new Pokemon. A Stoutland is rare in Galar, I bet it will fetch us a pretty penny.”

Something snapped inside of Jayce’s head. His eyes widened in horror. No. No, they couldn’t, they wouldn't…

They won’t.

He stepped out and walked slowly towards them, each step shaking with anger. Fists clenched, face red and eyes wide with rage, he came closer and closer. They won’t touch a single hair on Stoutland’s body. Not while he was there.”

“ _Oi_ ,” he growled from the darkest depths of his body.

The two boys whirled around to face him. “You?” Not-Bertrum snarled, a disgusted look on his face. “Can’t you tell when to back off?”

“You. You!” He suddenly ran at them. “Who the hell do you think you are?!”

Startled, the boys quickly dove into their pockets and threw out two Pokeballs. Two beams of red light shot out to the ground, a Gallade forming in front of Bertrum and a Haxorus in front of Not-Bertrum.

Jayce stopped as his View clicked on. Health and experience bars came over their heads. Haxorus was at Lv. 40, while Gallade stood at only Lv. 33. He could easily take them on if he had a Pokemon.

“I would ask if you didn't know who we are,” Not-Bertrum sneered, a condescending smirk on his face. “But I wouldn't expect someone like yourself to know.”

Jayce wasn’t one to condone punching children, but this time, he could make an exception.

“Do you want to fight us?” Bertrum asked. “I don’t think you would do very well against two high-tier Pokemon like ours.” He gestured to Gallade as it took a fighting stance, fierce eyes trained on Jayce’s.

“If it means I’ll get to my Pokemon…” Jayce took a fighting stance as well. “Then so be it.”

He knew if he actually got into a fight with a Pokemon, it would end bloodily. But he was long past thinking about the consequences. He was getting his partner, no matter what the cost.

“Last time I checked,” a new voice said from around the corner, “Pokemon fights in undesignated areas is illegal. Especially when it’s an unfair one like this.”

All three of them looked over to see who it was in the shadows. A man stepped out, about Jayce’s height. Dark skin stood out from a hot pink jersey shirt and dark blue ripped jeans. Underneath a crowned hat, long purple hair flowed down his back while piercing golden eyes stared out into the boys’ souls, a serious look on his face.

Jayce couldn’t believe it. The Unbeatable Leon, right there in the nick of time.

Both of the boys took a step back, as well as their Pokemon partners. “Lee, uh, Leon?” Bertrum asked, failing to mask the fear on his face.

Leon crossed his arms over his chest. “Bertrum and Hugo. We meet again.”

“Again?” Jayce muttered, letting his arms fall.

“These boys have a little...habit of pickpocketing Pokeballs from people and trying to sell them away.” He shook his head solemnly. “Their families buy them out every time they get caught.”

“That should teach you to leave us alone!” Hugo said, feeling brave in the face of a powerful man. “They don’t belong here! This is a city of class, and they are a plague!”

“Keep talking like that and we’ll see who catches the plague,” Jayce snapped.

“I suggest you give this man back his Pokemon,” Leon said.

Hugo crossed his arms over his chest. “Or what?”

After a long silence, Leon sighed and reached into his pocket.

“Alright fine!” Bertrum yelled as he grabbed the Pokeball from Hugo’s hand and threw it at them with a weak arm. It ended up bouncing to the ground between them. “Just get out of here!” He drew back Gallade and grabbed Hugo’s arm before dragging him away.

“Hey! Don’t drag me!” Hugo yelled as the two boys ran away, Haxorus following them with a confused screech.

As soon as they left his sight, Jayce dived for the Pokeball, all the anger leaving his body and being replaced with relief and worry. He called out Stoutland, who sniffed at his face as soon as it materialized. A smile broke out on his face as he hugged his Pokemon tightly, burying his face in its thick fur. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’ll never let that happen again.”

Leon shook his head and took his hand out of his pocket. “Those boys are trouble for Wyndon. They shouldn’t be allowed to abuse their status like that.”

Jayce peeked an eye out at him. “Were you actually going to have a battle with them?”

Leon shook his head and pulled out his pockets, revealing nothing in them. “Nope! I didn't even bring Charizard with me, which I’m honestly starting to regret,” he chuckled nervously. “The bigger question is, were you really going to fight a Gallade with your bare hands?”

His cheeks became warm and he nodded. “Yeah, I was considering it.” He took his face fully out of Stoutland’s fur. “How did you find us here? This just seems really coincidental.”

“Oh, I’m actually lost. I heard voices and came to ask if I could get some directions out of here, but then I stumbled into your little standoff. Say, you wouldn't happen to know your way out of here, would you?”

Jayce looked up at the brick walls, covered with graffiti and posters for things he’s never heard of before. Considering that this was his first time ever going to this part of Wyndon and that he was just following sounds all the way here, he had no idea where he was.

“...no,” Jayce said as he stood up. “No I don’t. But Stoutland is a great tracker.” He pet Stoutland’s head. “He can take us out of here.”

And so with the help of Stoutland’s trusted nose, the two of them found their way back to the main street. All of the adrenaline that Jayce had started to cycle out of his system, leaving him feeling tired in the middle of the day. Right now, all he wanted to do was have some quiet time, listen to some music, maybe read a book. A good book sounded nice.

Leon suddenly slapped him on the shoulder, startling him back into alertness. “Thanks for getting us out, mate! Would’ve been in there for hours without you.”

Jayce nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, no problem.”

Leon leaned down to scratch Stoutland’s head with a grin. “You too, bud! All the credit goes to you.” Stoutland let out a deep ‘boof!’ and licked at his wrist, its tongue rough against his skin.

“Seems it likes you,” Jayce said with a small smile.

Leon laughed and squished its face. “Man, I haven’t seen one of these in a long time. I’ve forgotten how fluffy they are.”

Jayce opened his mouth to ask where he saw them, but seeing someone take a photo of them out the corner of his eye stopped him. “I should get going,” he said, Stoutland looking up at him and backing up to his side. “Thank you for, well, for saving me.”

“Thank you for getting us outta there!” Leon grinned back as he stood back up straight. Whispers and murmurs started to fill into the space around them, and Leon turned around to take in the attention, greeting the people with a wave. While he distracted them, Jayce took this opportunity to escape.

The walk back to the hotel was one filled with a larger sense of paranoia than before. His eyes darted around at every person, analyzing them, especially if they came close. Stoutland walking next to him made other people give him room, but of course that didn't stop curious eyes taking in the foreign Pokemon. With a tug of his beanie, he quickened his pace.

They stood in front of his door as he got his room key out of his wallet. Stoutland leaned its head down to sniff at the bottom of the door, but he paid no mind as he opened up the door.

As soon as he stepped in, his foot kicked something across the floor, a small brown box skidding to a stop near the foot of the bed.

“Huh?” He closed the door behind him and grabbed the box, moving Stoutland’s saddle on the other side of the bed to sit. When he shook the box, something metal clinked around in it. With a curious frown, he opened the box.

Inside held two cufflinks, both with the Hammerlocke Gym insignia in silver and purple, and a folded piece of paper. He took one out and ran his thumb over the cool grooves as he opened up the piece of paper.

‘Something to help us match a little more. We’re representing the greatest city in Galar, aren’t we?’, the note read. At the bottom, it was signed by Raihan, a small winky face with a snaggletooth next to his name. Jayce smiled a little as Stoutland sniffed at the box.

He put both the cufflink and the paper back into the box and closed it, setting it on the small table next to the mirror, the suit in its protective cover handing off the edge. “That was nice of him, wasn’t it?” he asked Stoutland, who barked in agreement.

He grabbed the saddle and set it on the floor before patting the bed. Stoutland jumped up and laid down on top of the pillows, stretching its legs out. Jayce chuckled a little and flopped onto the bed, nuzzling his head into the thick fur. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes. Today was quite eventful for him, and now, all he wanted to do was rest...


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long-anticipated ball is just starting to get underway! How do you think it'll turn out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. August. Yikes.
> 
> School is hard, that much is obvious, but I'm getting enough of a break to write this. I'm going to try and get back into updating my fics, and we're at an exciting part now, so hopefully that'll motivate me to keep going! I know it's been a while, but thanks for all the support I got back then, it really helps.
> 
> Anyways, enough with this, go read it

Jayce tightened the bow tie around Stoutland’s neck, pushing its long fur down so it doesn’t get in the way. The black fabric mixed in with the different shades of brown easily, so it would be easy to miss without a closer look. That didn't bother either of them though; they weren’t looking to show off anything, just to be there and enjoy the event.

He combed his fingers through the thick fur, pulling and pushing to make it flow a certain way. The ball allowed the guests to bring one Pokemon with them, so long as it fit certain standards such as size and behavior. Jayce made sure that Stoutland was properly cleaned before the ball and even picked out a little bow tie for it to wear.

A stray curl fell onto his forehead, and he tried to push it back into the carefully held-together swoop he forced his hair into. He used a bit of hair gel he managed to find in the bathroom (this is the only hotel he’s been into with hair gel; made him wonder how many times this situation happened before they put in it) and pushed most of it over to one side like he’s seen men in those model magazines do it. It seemed like there was one little piece that evaded the gelling.

He stepped over to the mirror and pushed the piece back into the swoop. The silver cufflinks sitting on his wrists reflected the sunset rays off into the mirror, and he took a step back to look at himself again. A black jacket sat squarely on his shoulder and hugged his arms, a white collared shirt with a blue and orange tie underneath, smooth black dress pants, and freshly shined dress shoes. He definitely looked like someone attending a fancy ball.

A crease in the jacket caught his eye. He tugged on it a few times, but it just bounced right back up. He sighed and tried to push it down, to no avail. Great, this was the one time he would be invited to something as prestigious as this and there’s a crease in his jacket. Way to go.

Knocking at the door took his attention away from the jacket. “Come in.”

The door opened and two rather tall people stepped in--or rather, one tall person and a Goodra with a pretty pink bow tied around its head.

“You ready yet?” Raihan asked, fastening a cufflink to his wrist. He had his hair pulled back in, the sides freshly shaved. Orange stud earrings popped out from his ears, matching with the identical blue and orange tie around his neck. Each Gym leader and their guests would be wearing their respective Gym colors in some way, and Raihan went the easy route with a tie.

“Yeah, almost.” He smoothed his jacket again subconsciously. “You look good.” Stoutland stepped forward to sniff at Goodra’s legs curiously, and Goodra responded with a pat on its head. A smile came across Jayce’s face. “I think this is the first time they’ve met.”

Raihan patted Goodra’s shoulder. “I think they’ll be fast friends. Goodra’s my friendliest Pokemon.” He reached out and patted Jayce’s shoulder as well. “Anyways, you look better than me. But what have you done with your hair?”

“Tried to make it look at least a little decent,” he sighed as that same unruly curl fell down again. “Don’t wanna go in there looking like a mess.”

“I wouldn't worry too much about it,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Gotta make yourself look confident, that’s how you look attractive. You should try it sometime.” He flicked the curl. “But you should keep this. Adds some of that countryside charm.”

“I think Milo’s got enough to go around,” Jayce chuckled.

“No such thing as too much charm,” Raihan smirked as he wrapped an arm around Jayce’s shoulders and faced them both to the mirror. “Look at us. We’re the perfect duo: city boy and country boy, one in their element, one not so much but he’s trying.”

“Did you come in here just to make fun of me?”

Raihan laughed heartily. “No, I came to make sure you’re ready. Our transport’s coming soon.” He clapped his hand on his shoulder. “We’re gonna be traveling in style.”

Jayce checked his appearance in the mirror one last time. This was nothing like what he would normally wear, but he did have to admit he looked good in it. Then again, so do most people in suits. Stoutland circled his legs before sitting down next to him, looking up with its deep brown eyes. Jayce smiled and ran his hand through its thick fur. “Let’s go.”

The four of them left his room and walked out the large double doors to the front of the hotel. Waiting right for them was a long black limousine, a man in a suit with jet black hair swept back bowed and held open a door for them. Definitely stylish.

“Thanks, Mordecai,” Raihan said as they all piled into the back. The backseat was expansive and was enough for even the two Pokemon to sit comfortably. Raihan sat against the side facing the door with Goodra at his side while Jayce sat at the back with Stoutland laying by his feet.

“Wow,” Jayce breathed as Raihan reached into the drink cabinet and pulled out a bottle of sparkling light pink liquid. “This is really what it’s like in a limousine.”

“Yep,” Raihan replied as he pulled off the cork. “You want some? It’s champagne.”

“Oh, uh, sure. Are we allowed to drink before the ball though?”

Raihan shrugged as he poured them two glasses and handed one to Jayce. “Even if not, we aren’t drinking much.” He held his glass up. “To new adventures, and a good friendship.”

Jayce clinked their glasses together. “To new adventures and good friendships.” The two of them took a sip, the bubble fizzing against the back of their tongues as they swallow. Stoutland raised his head up and sniffed at Jayce’s glass.

“You don’t want this,” Jayce said, holding the glass further up. “It wouldn't taste good to you.” Stoutland huffed before flopping its head back onto its paws.

They drove through the streets of Wyndon, the buildings getting increasingly larger and more expensive with each minute. Jayce almost gaped at the size of the mansions they passed. He’d seen some big houses before, but these just astounded him. Part of him wanted to live in one of those houses, but the more rational part asked what he would even do in there. He lived alone in a small daycare in the middle of the Wild Area that was probably smaller than one of the smallest rooms in those houses. He’d have to keep all of the house tidy and clean, which would probably need an entire week dedicated to, and he couldn’t properly do his job there. No, he preferred where he was just fine.

“Doesn’t it make you wonder?” Raihan asked, taking Jayce’s attention away from the window. “What are their lives like? How do they live like that? How did they even get there?”

“Well, I’d imagine you sort of know. You’re richer than most people in Galar.”

“Yeah, but I hardly live in a place as big as that.” He gestured outside as they passed a mansion with a literal river running through the front yard. “I like to make up stories about how they got so rich. Like the house we just passed, the man of the house is a famous singer of a song we all know the lyrics to but don’t know the name of the song or who sung it.”

Jayce laughed. “That sounds absurd. Okay, my turn.” He points to the next mansion, the outside walls completely black. “That guy is a vampire who was rich three centuries ago and managed to stay rich, but no one can know his secret. And he can’t go out in sunlight, that’s why his house is entirely black. But that means he’s always super hot, and he pays a lot for air conditioning.”

They continued to play the ridiculous game until they reached their destination. Mordecai opened the door for them again, the largest mansion they’ve seen yet looming in front of them. Quartz columns towered over them at the entrance, roses wrapped all around them. A velvet red carpet cushioned their feet with ropes along the sides, leading up to the entrance where a sharply dressed woman and her Indeedee stood waiting behind a lectern. Police officers and their Pokemon held back news reporters and photographers and fans, holding cameras and microphones and notepads for autographs.

“Rose Mansion,” Jayce whispered under his breath, but he could barely hear himself as the crowd roared into action. Camera flashes blinded him and a mob of voices surrounded him, mainly shouting Raihan’s name and asking him for a photo or an autograph or a moment to speak. He turned away from the people, Stoutland pushing against his legs.

Raihan silently cursed. He forgot about how well-known this event was, especially to those who make a living off the lives of Gym Leaders and the Champion. He kept a smiling face for the cameras and snapped a few selfies with the crowd behind him as his Rotomphone flew about to capture the moment. His eyes glanced down at Jayce and saw him curling away from the flashing lights and screaming voices. Wrapping an arm around his shoulder and putting away his Rotomphone, he hurried them both to the lectern and gave the woman his invitation card. She checked off their names and gestured to the main door, and the two of them wasted no time getting inside.

“Hey, you alright?” Raihan asked as the doors closed behind them, shutting out the noise. “I didn't know the crowd would be that bad.”

Jayce rubbed his face. “Yeah, I’m fine. That tolerance I had for being famous went away years ago.” He looked up, catching Raihan’s face full of concern. He prayed that Raihan couldn’t see his cheeks going red, since he surely could feel them turning. Such a kind face…

“I’m fine,” Jayce smiled. “I promise.”

“Alright, just tell me if anything’s bothering you.”

He playfully nudged Raihan’s shoulder. “I’ll be fine. Your resident country boy is more resilient than you think.”

Raihan laughed and shoved him away. “That’s gonna be your new nickname. Country boy.”

“First it was Tamer of Pokemon, now country boy? Make up your mind,” he smiled. But he didn't mind it at all. Being called silly names like that, he liked it, more than he thought he would. He tightened his tie. “Come on, let’s get this party started.”

“Oh, the party never starts until I walk in,” Raihan smirked. “And now it won’t start without you.”

Stoutland barked and pushed against Jayce’s legs, eager to go sniff all the new people. “Alright, alright,” Jayce laughed, patting its head. “Quit being pushy, we’re going.”

Through another set of double doors opened for them by servants, they stepped into a grand ballroom decked out to the max. A humongous glittering chandelier hung above them, illuminating the entire room. The smell of freshly cooked food wafted from two doors farthest from them, a waitress holding a tray of champagne glasses exiting from one of them. Light chatter surrounded him this time, much more comforting than outside, coming from people dressed in beautiful and fancy clothing. He recognized most of them: Milo towering over Kabu, both dressed in suits, talking to each other. The current Pokemon Professor and Nessa laughed at something unknown as they both grabbed a new glass. Opal and her apprentice, a smaller boy with puffy white hair like a cloud, walked through the thin crowd to a round table to fit four people.

He took a quiet deep breath. Stepping back into the world of Trainers and Gym Leaders and the Pokemon League wasn’t something he was fully prepared for, but he was confident enough to take a step in. And feeling Raihan’s presence next to him made him more confident, and he could feel it in Stoutland too. They were both ready for this, ready enough to grab his own glass and take another step in.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jayce does his best to navigate this unfamiliar environment. Doesn't mean it goes that well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope you're all having a great day surrounded by your loved ones, real and fictional!

“Piers!”

Raihan’s sudden exclamation jolted Jayce out of his thoughts. In the corner of his eye, he spotted Raihan’s victim: the former Dark type Leader of Spikemuth, the lanky and dual-colored Piers. His hair hadn’t changed one bit for this special occasion, still spiky and held back in his ponytail with some of it covering half his face. He did wear a different outfit though, a tuxedo like most of the men, with his Gym logo emblazoned on the back.

He threw a scowl Raihan’s way as he sauntered over. It didn't look to be out of hate, more like tiredness. “What?”

Raihan wrapped an arm around his skinny shoulders and grinned down at him. “Battle me!”

“No.” His Spikemuth accent shone through clearly, rough and choppy on the tongue.

“Come on! One battle.”

“No.”

Raihan shook him a little. “What if we’re pitted against each other in the battles later?” he smirked. “There’s nothing you can do about it then.”

“Then I’ll excuse myself from the event,” Piers said with a deadpan tone as he tried to leave, but Raihan’s rock hard grip wouldn't let him go.

“Oh come on, that’s not very Gym Leader-like of you, refusing a battle!”

Piers heaved a deep sigh from the depths of his chest. “I’m retired.”

“Excuse me,” Jayce interrupted, coming up to them. He hadn’t heard anything about battling. “What battles?”

Raihan facepalmed himself before laughing. “I knew I was forgetting something!”

“It wasn’t your manners?” Piers huffed as he yanked himself out of Raihan’s grip. Goodra came around and cooed at Piers, and he stroked its head.

“So,” Raihan started with a grin, crossing his arms over his chest. “Around the middle of the ball before dinner, everyone goes outside to the courtyard and gets randomly paired up by another attendee. Normally it’s the Gym Leaders and sometimes Rose himself who battles, but anyone’s allowed to join. That’s also why we brought one Pokemon.” He gestured to Stoutland, sitting down next to Jayce. “You can fight with Stoutland, and we’re only allowed to use that one Pokemon. You aren’t allowed to use any healing items either, not like anyone brought anything. The mansion staff have those and heal the Pokemon after every battle. Once you’re teamed up with someone, you can’t back out.”

Jayce nodded slowly, taking in the information. He really would’ve preferred to be told of this earlier so he could think on whether or not to participate, but Raihan’s only human. “So it keeps going like a bracket until someone wins? What do they win?”

Raihan shrugged. “The bounty changes every year. Last time it was five million Pokedollars.”

“Five million?!” Jayce gaped. He hadn’t seen even one million Pokedollars in one place before. That could pay for better housing and facilities and then some for...he didn't even know how long. “How much is it this time?”

“We don’t know until the battles start. That’s what makes it fun,” he smirked. “Come on, you should join! It’ll be fun to watch you in battle.”

Jayce reached down for Stoutland, and it pressed its wet nose against the palm of his hand. “I don’t know…” It had been so long since he’d been in the heat of battle, had all those eyes looking down at him. Would he be able to live up to it again? Would he crack under the pressure just like before? Buried memories began to resurface: his eyes stinging as sand flew around him, his trusted team dropping one by one, barely having time to revive and bring them back into the game, the smirking face of his opponent glaring down at him as Stoutland finally fainted...

He squeezed his eyes shut to dispel the thoughts. No, that was years ago. That didn't matter anymore. This wasn’t the same, it couldn’t be the same, he would be fine. He was stronger now than before, even if he hadn’t battled in years.

“Actually,” he said, scratching Stoutland’s head, “why not?”

Raihan grinned and punched his shoulder, leaving it stinging. “Alright!” He pointed to a suited man with a tablet in his hands on the other side of the ballroom. “That’s where you can sign up, just put your name in and who you’re with and it’ll put you into the bracket. Now if you’ll excuse me.” He turned sly eyes to Piers and Goodra before ambushing them again.

Jayce couldn’t help but laugh at Raihan. He and Piers looked to have a good bond, even if Piers wouldn't acknowledge it, and part of him was secretly glad that Goodra distracted him so he didn't ask about who he was. Of course, he could’ve just not cared. Whichever one it was, it worked for him.

He wove through guests and waiters to get to the man, who only took a passing glance at him before looking back to the tablet. “Are you signing up for the battles, sir?”

Jayce nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Yep.”

“Name and who’s guest you are.”

“Jayce and, uh, Raihan. He’s the one who brought me along.”

The man looked up at him again, scanning his features before his eyes fell to Jayce’s legs. “I see.” Jayce looked down at himself and--

His pants were covered in hair. Pokemon hair, to be exact. Stoutland was notorious for shedding everywhere when its fur didn't get a good brushing. Of course he forgot to brush, everything else going on distracted him. He even brought the brush with him, how could he forget that? How has someone not pointed that out this entire time? Oh no, how many people noticed but didn't say anything? How much hair trailed behind him as he walked? The floor must be filthy now and he looks just as filthy in front of all these well-dressed and important people. Great, this was just _wonderful_ , way to make a good first impression.

“You’re all registered, sir,” the man said, tapping once again into the tablet.

“Thank you!” Jayce yelped in a voice he was sure was too loud before spinning on his heels. Embarrassment crept into his face and fueled his steps, his eyes staring at the floor looking for stray hairs.

Just as soon as he turned around, he bumped into someone.

“Sorry! I’m so sorry!” He apologized profusely and waved Stoutland away when it tried to sniff at the person’s shoes, not looking up at their face.

“Hey hey, it’s alright mate,” a familiar voice chuckled. He looked up to see a rather dashing Leon in a suit that actually looked good on him, his fluffy purple hair bound together in a loose braid.

Leon’s eyebrows rose up in recognition. “Hey, it’s you! I didn't recognize you without the hat, or an angry look on your face.”

“The beanie makes a big difference,” he chuckled nervously. He didn't want to be in this conversation with the former Champion, he really just wanted to find Raihan and hide. But he couldn’t just make an excuse and leave. What would he even say? ‘Sorry, I feel way too embarrassed about the fact that I’m just here in general and don’t want to talk to you, bye!’

Leon put his hands on his hips. “Who’d you come with? Unless something happened in the last twenty-four hours, you aren’t a Gym Leader, retired or otherwise.”

“Uh, Raihan. He brought me along.”

“So I’ve finally found the elusive guest,” he grinned. “Raihan hasn’t brought a guest in a long time, so it has to be someone special to him.”

Jayce’s brows furrowed together. Raihan didn't seem like the type of guy to go to a party just by himself, and if he was, then why pick him out of all people? Was he really that ‘special’ to him?

As if sensing his thoughts, Raihan came over and slapped his hand onto Leon’s shoulder. With a guy as big and intimidating as Leon, Raihan’s presence was doubled. “You better not be scaring away my guest, Leon,” he said with an easy smirk.

“Nope!” Leon responded. “We’ve actually met before.”

Raihan raised a brow at this. “Oh really?”

“Yeah, I was lost in an alleyway and I saw him trying to fight off two Pokemon with his bare hands.”

Raihan burst out into laughter, clutching his sides and showing off his pointy teeth. Jayce’s face flushed into a bright red in embarrassment.

“Dude, you--oh my god, you actually--did you--” He put his fists up in a fighting position before almost doubling over in laughter.

“I need a drink!” Jayce announced before pushing past the two of them and walking away as quickly as he could. As if he didn't feel embarrassed enough, he was reminded of a stupid scene in the heat of the moment right in front of Raihan. There was a reason he didn't tell him, and this was exactly the reason. Why did he agree to go here? He’s done nothing but made a fool of himself the entire time. It would be better if he just left.

“Jayce!” Raihan called from behind. He stopped and watched Raihan run up to him. “Dude, you can’t just leave me hanging like that, you gotta tell me the story.”

“It wasn’t me who left you hanging, it was our former Champion,” he muttered, taking a champagne glass from a passing waitress and taking a long sip.

Raihan put his hand over the mouth and pushed it away from Jayce’s. “Watch it on the drinks a little, you need to be awake for the battles. And I don’t care who told me, I’ve heard it and I need the full story.”

“Alright, alright, hang on.” He led them out a pair of open French doors to the balcony, the sinking sun casting orange and yellow light into the sky. He leaned against the railing overlooking the backyard. Every inch of it was completely immaculate, a large battleground in the middle with a fountain nearby and hedges in the shapes of roses with actual roses growing around them. The boundaries seemed to span out to the horizon.

“So?” Raihan asked, grabbing the white plaster. “What’s the deal with you getting into alley fights?”

“Right,” he sighed. “I was walking in Wyndon when these two _punks_ \--they stole Stoutland’s Pokeball! Who does that?! So I had to go chasing after them and when I found them the little cowards pulled out their Pokemon and there was absolutely no chance in hell I would let them take Stoutland, so I was ready to throw hands and get myself seriously hurt to try and get it back. But Leon magically appeared and scared them off and they left my Pokeball.”

Raihan frowned. “Wait, someone stole your Pokemon? Who in their right mind does that?”

“You haven’t been to Unova then, or Kanto, or one of the many regions where that type of crime is rampant. Some steal them for money, which is what those brats were doing. In Unova we have this crime gang called Team Plasma, and they’re trying to ‘liberate’ Pokemon from humans.” He shook his head. “It’s terrible, I’m not going back there until they’re completely gone.”

“Yeesh, and I was actually thinking of taking a vacation,” Raihan sighed, now leaning his elbows against the railing. “Not like I could right now anyways, with it being Gym Challenge season still.”

“That’s why I keep telling you to come work with me,” Jayce jokes, playfully pushing his shoulder. “You get a lot more vacation days.”

Raihan smiled at him. “Maybe I should.” He looked back into the ballroom, where the chatter had ceased and one voice spoke over everyone else. “Oh, I think Leon’s making his speech. Come on.” He took Jayce’s elbow and led them back inside.

Leon stood at the front of the room on a stage, his hands collapsed together in front of him with a tiny microphone taped to his cheek. He spoke with a smile, his golden eyes scanning the crowd.

“We can all agree that this year has been one full of changes. New Gym Leaders, a new Champion, a new Chairman of the Pokemon League even. Welcome, all the new members of our small family!” As he and the crowd clapped, Jayce spotted the new Champion Alyssa with her hair curled over to one side and a stunning floor-length red dress on, her Cinderace jumping excitedly next to her and the former Champion’s brother on her other side. Her eyes jumped over to Piers’ sister Marnie, the new Spikemuth Leader, and to that boy with puffy hair with Opal. This was the largest amount of new faces that Jayce had seen at once in years.

“Unfortunately,” Leon continued, “Rose himself was unable to be here and has tasked me with leading the events.”

“The guy’s in jail, of course he couldn’t come,” Raihan muttered under his breath to Jayce. What Rose had done was horrendous, and if it wasn’t for the two Champions, so many people would’ve been hurt. Jayce was glad he didn't have to see his face.

“On that note, we’ll be starting one of our first events, the battles!” He extended his arms out in a flourish. “We have eight groups of two in the first round, and the brackets are being posted around the ballroom, so make sure you take a look as you head out. We’ll be starting in ten minutes!” With that, he stepped off the stage and went through a back door.

“There’s one,” Raihan says as he grabbed Jayce’s arm again and dragged him through the crowd to a large poster taped to the wall. It already drew a crowd around it, but Jayce was able to see over their heads and catch most of the groups. On the right side was Opal and Allister, Hop and Raihan, Nessa and Leon, and Piers with Melony. He could only see three groups on the left though: Professor Sonia and someone he didn't recognize, Alyssa and Marnie, and himself with someone named Bede. That name sounded familiar, was that the new Fairy-type Gym Leader?

“It’s not exactly Leon,” Raihan grinned, “but it’s close enough. That kid managed to keep up with me when he was a Challenger.”

“Yeah, I watched the battle.” He hesitated before taking Raihan’s elbow. Something about this felt weird, tantalizing, scandalizing even. His fingertips buzzed from feeling the shape of his arm through the suit jacket. “Let’s go get good seats.”

They filed out with some other guests to the battleground, where elevated seats had been set up like a mini stadium. The front rows were reserved for those actually participating in the battles. Even though there weren’t many attendees, with this small of a battleground it felt like the ‘stadium’ was packed.

“Guess we don’t have to search,” Jayce said as the two of them sat down next to each other. Down below them, the first group came in with their Pokemon, Allister’s Gengar waddling behind him and Opal’s Togekiss flying ahead.

“They’re both from opposite sides of the spectrum in many ways,” Raihan comments, “but both very competent in their own rights.”

The two Pokemon were closely matched in level and skill as they chipped away at one another. Unfortunately, the young Ghost Leader had the type disadvantage and ended up losing. In this battle of almost pure strength, having the disadvantage spells bad luck for you.

He watched the battles go on from his spot, his leg bouncing as they approached his turn. Stoutland noticed this and rested its head on his leg, keeping it from bouncing.

“Thanks, bud,” Jayce smiled as he pat its head. He couldn’t help but be nervous with what was on the line; this year the bounty was three million Pokedollars, less than last year’s but would still be a massive boost for him.

Raihan tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, you’re almost up.”

“Oh, thanks,” he said as he stood up, but Raihan took his arm before he could leave.

“Hey.” Raihan smiled. “Good luck.”

Jayce’s heart pounded in his chest, not just from the stress he built up, but from that smile. It’s a smile Raihan’s given him many times before, but this time--had he really never noticed that dimple on his left cheek? But Raihan let his arm go, and the moment was over. He had to get down there and fight.

He found the way down to the battleground and walked out to the opposite end. It brought him back to all the stadiums he fought at before, wearing that Challenger uniform with his trusty team, Stoutland at the lead. He looked up at the crowd, watching them look at him and his Pokemon with judgment in their eyes. No, not judgment--intrigue, interest.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted his opponent come in: Bede, inheritor of the Ballonlea Gym with enough confidence in his walk to almost convince Jayce that he was going to lose. Almost.

Tossing a Great Ball up into the air, Bede smirked. This battle was now underway.


End file.
